


One Live!

by RukiaUniverse



Series: One Live! Collection [3]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!, One Piece
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23625646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RukiaUniverse/pseuds/RukiaUniverse
Summary: After escaping from a few members of the disbanded pirate crew μ's, Aqours finally arrives in the Grand Line. Chika Takami, now worth 50 million, must fight against the likes of Baroque Works, a criminal organization. On the way, she meets more people to join her crew.
Series: One Live! Collection [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619029
Kudos: 4





	1. Reverse Mountain

“I can’t believe you made me swim the way here while you stayed perfectly dry on _my_ ship! I can’t fight sea kings every single day!” Nico complained, her pirate coat on the floor right next to her. The tool belt she had all of her knives in laid on top of it, as well as her longest blade. 

They were inside a mansion on the top of a snowy mountain. This island was known as Drum Island, home to the recently renamed Nishikino Kingdom. Maki, who had left the island as a princess to go journey with Honoka and her crew, had returned as the queen. The now queens’ bounty had been reset to zero when she came back.

“What can I say? I’m a queen of a kingdom, and you’re a dirty pirate from the weakest sea. You should be grateful that I didn’t shoot you on the spot for stepping foot on my land.” Maki countered, proud of getting back at Nico after what felt like a decade since they last saw each other. After μ's disbanded, everyone went down their own paths.

“...Wow, you _still_ act like the ‘stuck up princess’ I met all of those years ago. Do you threaten _Ruby_ with a gun?” Nico laughed off her argument.

“Don’t bring my child into this.”

“Fine, fine, I won’t. Well, I’ll be back here to visit sometime soon. I have some business to attend to.” Nico started to get up, reaching for her main knife first.

“Did you forget that you’re drenched?” 

“...A day won't hurt.”

  
  
  


* * *

_Meanwhile, with Aqours…_

  
  
  


“Welcome to the Twin Capes, nya!” A figure said to Chika, who had just crashed her favorite seat on the Going Merry into the island. She was a bit gloomy, walking up to them. Until she realized...

“Huh, I’ve met you somewhere before, haven’t I?” Chika inquired, appearing to be thinking hard.

“Maybe the Numazu Kingdom? That was the last place I visited before I came back here, nya…” Chika’s eyes lit up with stars.

“Wait, that must make you the _Cat Master_ …!”

“Rin Hoshizora, at your service!” Rin finished for the captain. The rest of Aqours had already gotten off of the ship, Mari holding on to the broken head of the ship protectively. Kanan kept one of her hands over her swords, preparing for a potential fight.

“What’s a previous member of μ's doing at a lighthouse?” The swordsman questioned her, then getting a hit from Riko.

“Quit it! She’s going to think we’re pirates!”

“We _are_ pirates.” Yoshiko reminded her.

“You know what I mean!”

“To answer your question, I’m here to warn people about the dangers of the Grand Line! Don’t worry, if you guys were bad guys, you would’ve shot me with a cannon by now, nya.” For added effect, she brought up her right hand, which now had claws. “Then, I would’ve shredded the cannon ball, and then sunk the ship!” Thinking about μ's and cutting, although Nico is a close second, Kanan remembered getting cut down by Eli.

Even with Yoshiko’s healing, the scar remained, even if it isn’t visible. Just the thought of it, as if the fallen angel’s healing was a curse, could almost bring the swordsman back to her knees again. While effective, she noted, it might not be suited for a hit from the greatest swordsman in the world.

“Can you tell us some stuff about the Grand Line?” 

“For starters, you’ll need a log pose, nya.” Two cannonballs came flying towards Rin. Before any of Aqours could see them coming, she turned around and cut both of them to shreds. The parts flew past them without getting near any of them, and fell in the water. 

“Ohohoho! Cease your futile resistance!” One of the cannon holders shouted to them.

“Just turn yourself in so we’ll have enough money to feed our town!” The other yelled. The crew finally noticed the culprits.

“What the hell…?” Yoshiko mumbled. Without any hesitation, Chika bolted past Rin, putting her arms behind her, not stretching them. She ran into them, pushing the attackers as hard as she could, which ended up with them off of the island and in the water.

“Just who were those guys?” Riko asked, as the rubber girl picked up something that dropped after she knocked them off the island.

“...Did someone drop this or something?”

“Oh, those were some weirdos that kept on getting sent to collect my bounty, nya!” Looking over the side of the cliff, Chika watched them emerge from the water.

“So who are you guys?”

“Shut up! It’s none of your business!” The girl was quick to respond.

“Wait, Miss Wednesday. Perhaps it _is_ their business. As long as they’re pirates, that is.” The man told her.

“True indeed, Mr. 9. Our organization may have some use for you.” She pointed at Chika. “Prepare yourselves!” They began swimming in the opposite direction of the island.

“Then we bid you good day until next time, you hillbilly pirates!”

“And heed this, _Cat Master!_ That bounty of yours shall be ours for the taking soon enough!” Mari joined her captain, looking over the island as well.

“So her name is Ms. Wednesday? What a beautiful enigma you are.” She muttered to herself, still holding the ship head.

“Are you sure about letting them go? They’ll be sure to come back for you again.” Riko said to Rin.

“More’ll just come to fight me, so I let them go, nya!”

* * *

“Alright then, time to chart out our navigation route.” Riko was looking through her maps, while Chika was staring at the birds that flew above.

Mari was in the kitchen, stirring various ingredients she brought along with her from Awashima into a large pot.

“Maybe she’ll like my signature Stewshine…”

Yoshiko was outside, hammering a sheet of metal onto the ship to put the sheep head back on.

“Come on, I can’t believe that idiot destroyed our ship!” She complained. Kanan was below her, snoring loudly. The fallen angel glanced down at her. “Hey, I could use some help over here, Kanan! I’m no shipwright, you know!”

After looking at her compass, Riko let out a scream. Chika finally turned her attention from the sky.

“What? You’re being noisy.” As if teleporting, Mari appeared, carrying numerous bowls of Stewshine.

“What’s the matter, my dear Riko? If it’s about the meal, then it’s ready now!” Yoshiko climbed onto the island as well.

“Ugh, I guess I’ll take a break from the ship repairs and eat.” The swordsman was still asleep on the ship.

“The compass...It’s broken! It’s pointing all over the place!”


	2. To Whiskey Peak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqours discovers the oddities of the Grand Line.

After Rin explained how Log Poses worked, Chika gave Riko the thing that the agents from earlier dropped when she ran into them. It was a Log Pose, so now they can travel into the Grand Line. They also learned about the last island, Laugh Tale.

“It’s the last island of the Grand Line. The only crew that is known to land there for sure is A-Rise, nya.”

“Is that where the One Piece is?” Yoshiko asked.

“I think so! Though, no one else has reached it.”

“You mean until we get there!” Chika grinned, then sighing. “Alright, let’s go! I’m done eating.”

“You ate the whole thing!”

...Until Mari got mad that Chika ate all of the Stewshine she made, and kicked her, which broke the Log Pose. Angry at the two of them, the navigator launched both of them into the water, where they met Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday again. They were sent flying back to the Twin Capes after The Unluckies dropped an explosive on them. Rin offered to give Aqours her Log Pose in place of the one that they broke. But then, Mr. 9 had a request for them…

“Whiskey Peak? What’s that?”

“It’s the name of our town.”

“You lost your ship, and you want us to take you home? Why should we help you, Mr. 9?” Riko said to him. “You tried to kill Rin.”

“Who are you guys, anyway?” Yoshiko added on.

“I am a king.” He responded, which led to Riko pinching him.

“Liar.” Both Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday got on their knees in front of the crew.

“We can’t tell you! We just want to go home! We promise to repay you!” They begged. Miss Wednesday continued, “It’s not our fault! Our work requires us to be secretive! Our company’s motto is ‘mystery.’ That’s all we can reveal. We appeal to your kindness and compassion.”

“You guys should be careful, nya.” Rin told the crew. Riko showed them the Log Pose they dropped.

“Umm, I think you should know that we may have broken your Log Pose...do you still want to come with us?” In a complete 180, they stood up.

“W-What?! You broke it? That Log Pose was mine!” Mr. 9 shouted.

“We got on our knees and begged, and you’re stuck here too?!” Miss Wednesday yelled.

“Oh! We have that one that Rin gave us.” The agents got back on their knees again.

“We appeal to your kindness and compassion…”

“It’s fine. You can come with us!” Chika exclaimed.

* * *

“Are you sure you want to take those guys, nya? Once you choose which way you want to go, you can’t change it.”

“If we don’t like it, we’ll just sail around again.”

“Okay!” Rin gave them a thumbs up.

“...Stupid pirates!” Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 chuckled, whispering to each other.

“Thanks for the Log Pose!” 

“Good luck, nya!”

* * *

As the ship sails on, the season turns to…

Winter.  _ (And sometimes Spring.) _

Chika put a piece of wood in the middle of a ball of snow, putting a barrel on its head.

The Going Merry, having set out from the Twin Capes at the foot of Reverse Mountain heads straight for Whiskey Peak.

“Done! It’s the man who fell from the sky, Mr. Snowman!” The captain presented her snowman, who had a cape. The face was a bit lopsided, but it was true hard work. Her straw hat was now covered by a layer of snow.

“Kukuku...Your snowman bores me!” Yoshiko told her, channeling her inner fallen angel.

“What?!”

“Behold, the fruit of my labor! The dark angel who fell from grace, Yohane of the Snow!” Her snow sculpture looked nearly identical to Yoshiko, but she had a black feather in her side bun. Yohane also had a pair of black wings, as she looked off into the distance.

“Wow, that’s great!” Chika praised. She moved behind her snowman, and pushed one of the arms towards Yoshiko’s sculpture. “Alright! Snowman Punch!” The wood went straight through the head of the snowman.

“What are you doing?!” Yoshiko kicked off the head of Chika’s snowman in retaliation.

“Nooo! Mr. Snowman!” Even with the weather situation, the two began fighting on the deck.

“...How can they frolic like that in the cold?” Riko wondered, shivering, wearing a big coat with a scarf on top of it, along with earmuffs.

“Riko! How long shall I keep shovelling this  _ snow of love? _ ” Mari asked her, picking up some of the snow with her shovel. She had a scarf over what she wore normally.

“Keep going until it stops, Mari.”

“ _ Of course, _ milady.”

“Hey, you! Doesn’t this ship have a heater?” Mr. 9 questioned Riko.

“I’m cold.” 

“You guys aren’t guests here! Go out and help shovel snow!” From the sky, thunder began coming down. The navigator rushed to look outside the kitchen window. “Thunder? It was warm and sunny a minute ago. It’s just like Rin said, the weather here defies logic!” 

“You underestimate the Grand Line. You’ve hardly been steering. Is that wise?” Miss Wednesday told her. Riko turned around.

“I just checked our course.”

* * *

“Impossible!” Riko looked down at the log pose, and then slammed open the door to the deck. “Turn around the ship 180 degrees! Hurry!”

“180 degrees?! Why are we turning back?” Yoshiko asked her, pausing her fight with Chika, who was holding a snowball.

“Did you forget something?”

“No, the ship got turned around! We’re going back the way we came, and I only took my eyes off the Log Pose for a second! The sea was smooth…”

“The sea is having it’s way with us.” Mr. 9 said.

“Are you sure you’re a navigator? On the Grand Line, you can’t trust the wind, the sky, the waves, or even the clouds. Everything is treacherous.” Miss Wednesday explained. “The only thing you can count on is the Log Pose! Understand?” Taking off her coat, Riko kicked the two agents outside.

“Quit acting like you know everything and help!” The red haired girl grabbed the railing. “We’ll take the wind from the starboard yard brace! Turn the ship 180 degrees to port! Yoshiko, watch astern.”

“Aye-aye.”

“Mari, you take the whip-staff.”

“Leave it to me, Riko!” She cheered.

“Shut up!” When up the stairs, Yoshiko noticed something.

“Hold on, the wind’s changed!” Looking over the boat, the two agents sighed happily.

“The first wind of spring.” The fallen angel ran over to Kanan. 

“Kanan, wake up! It’s an emergency!” The swordsman was still asleep. Not paying attention, Chika watched the sea.

“Hey, I just saw dolphins jumping over there! Let’s take a look!” 

“No!” Riko shouted at her.

“The waves are getting bigger!”

“Riko, there’s fog!” Mari told her.

“Iceberg at 10 o’clock!”

“What kind of ocean  _ is _ this?!” Even with the ruckus, Kanan still slept peacefully.

* * *

Close after, the sea was suddenly calm. So quiet, you could hear the birds from above.

Kanan finally awoke, stretching her arms.

“Wow, what a peaceful nap.” She yawned, getting up from the ground. The swordsman looked around at everyone on the floor of the deck. “...Huh? I know it’s a beautiful day, but shouldn’t you guys be working? I hope we’re sailing in the right direction.” Kanan then noticed the two agents on the ground.

“What’re you two doing here?”

“Where have you been?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think this is the fastest i've updated the series so far lol


	3. The Town of Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After leaving the Twin Capes, Aqours arrives on Whiskey Peak, and is met with a warm welcome.

“It’s Whiskey Peak!” Chika exclaimed, as their boat arrived near the island. The island had giant cactus's on it, and was surrounded by mist. Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 leaped onto the railing of the ship.

“Well, we’ll be taking our leave now.” He said.

“Thanks for the ride, darlings! We’ll see you again, fate willing!” She said.

“Bye bye, baby.” They both leaped in the water.

“...They’re gone.”

“Who were those guys?”

“Forget them! Let’s land!”

“There’s a river up ahead. It looks like we have to sail inland.” Yoshiko began sweating.

“I hope there aren’t monsters and stuff!”

“It’s a  _ possibility _ . This  _ is _ the Grand Line.” Mari replied.

“If there are monsters, we’ll just run away.” 

“Hold it. We can’t leave right away, remember?” Riko told Chika.

“Why not?”

“We have to record the island’s magnetic field with the Log Pose before we can move on to the next island.” She explained. “The time it takes to log on each island varies. Some islands may only take a few hours, but others could take days.”

“You mean if this island is full of monsters, we might have to stick around for days?!” Yoshiko questioned the navigator.

“That’s right.”

“We can worry about that when the time comes.” The captain laughed. “Let’s go! We have to sail up the river because it’s there!”

“It looks that way.”

“Chika’s right. There’s no use sitting around. Let’s go.” Kanan stated. Mari grinned, giving the red haired girl a thumbs up.

“I’ll protect you, Riko!”

“Hey guys! I think I’m coming down with  _ ‘better not visit this island’ _ fever.”

…

“Welcome to the Town of Celebration - Whiskey Peak!” The inhabitants of the town cheered and clapped for Aqours, gathering around the river.

“Huh?” Chika asked, confused with the warm welcome they were receiving.

“I guess they aren’t monsters.” 

“What’s going on?” The cheers still went on.

“Hurray for the heroes of the sea!” Mari looked around at the people, until she clasped her hands together, hearts forming on her eyes.

“There’s a lot of  _ cute girls _ here too!”

“What salutations of great heights from this island’s population! The savages of the sea are welcome here!” Yohane exclaimed, making a sudden appearance.

“We aren’t savages!” Riko protested.

“Ahem!” A voice cleared their throat, approaching the ship. The crew had gotten off of the Going Merry. “Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi! Welcome. My name is Igarappoi. No doubt this all comes as a surprise to you. This is Whiskey Peak, a bustling town of ale brewing and music. We pride ourselves in our hospitality.”

“We’re proud of our ale, and have an ocean of it. We’d love to hear the tales of your adventures. Would you be so kind as to join…” He cleared his voice again. “Mi-Mi-Mi! A celebration in your honor?”

“Mister, you’ve curved your hair...way too much…” Chika commented, staring at Igarappoi’s hair. “You bet we would!” 

“Those idiots…” Riko thought, watching Chika, Mari, and Yoshiko celebrate together. She walked up to the mayor. “How long will it take to log this island?”

“Log? Please set aside such trivial matters! Rest from your travels!” He put his hand on Riko’s shoulder. “All right, everyone! Prepare for the festivities! Let us pay tribute to the adventurers!”

“Let’s celebrate!” On a nearby large cactus, the Unluckies were watching over the island.

...And the sun goes down on Whiskey Peak.

  
  


…

  
  


The moon rises over the revelry at Whiskey Peak…

“So that moment, I declared in an elegant manner, ‘You creatures of the sea, repent from my little demons!’” Yohane smirked. 

“The Fallen Angel Yohane is so cool!” Some of the girls exclaimed.

“Although, I can admit that our retreat from the Calm Belt had me shaking…” She began, leaning back. “...with delight!” Yohane got a cheer from the crowd that was listening to her story.

Kanan burped, then slumped over, slamming her glass down on the table in front of her.

“I give up.” A man next to her passed out, falling on the table.

“Wow! Amazing! She out drank 10 men!” Still standing, Riko proudly held her glass in the air, wiping from her mouth. Another man passed out.

“She out drank 12! She can sure hold her own!” 

With a plate in hand, Chika shouted, “Gimme more!” Bowls and plates piled up on each other next to her.

“The captain over there’s eaten enough food for 20!” The cook fell.

“No more…”

“The cook’s down!” 

Mari had a wide grin across her face, and was chuckling nonstop, surrounded by a large group of people.

“This one’s flirting with 20 girls at once! Who are these people anyway?!” Igarappoi laughed heartily. 

“This certainly has been…” He cleared his throat yet again. “Mi-Mi-Mi! An enjoyable evening! I’m so pleased you’re having fun.” The party went on, able to be heard from outside.

“Indeed. I truly am…”

  
  


…

  
  


“‘Our efforts to procure...food for our town failed. However, to restore our honor, we succeeded in including this group to come to Cactus Island.’” Mr. 9 said out loud while writing a letter. Him and Ms. Wednesday were sitting down at a table. “That’s what we’ll report.”

“...Done. I hope that puts us back in the boss’s good graces.” 

“Yes. Let’s hurry and put the report in The Unluckies mailbox.” Ms. Wednesday replied. “They’ll deliver it to the boss…” They walked outside, putting the paper in the mailbox. There was a jolly roger on the box. A skull, with two rapiers as the bones, with wings coming out. “...For us.”

  
  


…

  
  
  


“Nooo...I can’t take no more.” Kanan fell face down onto the table, still holding onto the glass.

“Woah! She gave up after besting 13 people!” Riko was in another contest. “The other girl’s on her 15th! Her opponent’s The Sister!” 

“...Kanan? What a wimp.” She kept on drinking.

“Isn’t it time you stopped too?” Her opponent asked her. Chika landed on her back.

“I’ve had it. Can’t eat another bite.” She complained, laughter erupting throughout the building. Riko started laughing at her as well.

“She’s gone through three cooks!” The said cooks were on the ground as well. The navigator rested her head on her arms, falling asleep.

“What a great town!” Yoshiko exclaimed. Mari was laying down across two women’s laps.

“This is paradise.” She swooned.

“They’re all passed out cold. Sweet dreams, brave adventurers. Tonight...the cactus rocks seem to dance so beautifully in the moonlight.” The town’s mayor said, looking at the ship from outside.

“You’re a poet...” Sitting on top of the tavern behind him was none other than Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday. “Mr. 8!”

“Oh, it’s you two.” He simply stated.

“How are they?” Ms. Wednesday asked him.

“They’ve all fallen into the abyss.” Opening the door to the outside of the tavern was Riko’s previous opponent, The Sister.

“Oh my...They sure can put away the booze and the food. I was only drinking carbonated Barley Tea!” She complained. “But was a celebration really necessary for five scrawny kids?!”

“Ms. Monday…” She pulled off the thing that was covering her hair, and in turn the rest of her body.

“We should have finished them at the port. As it is, there’s a food shortage, and no whale meat is heading this way.”

“Don’t say that!” Ms. Wednesday yelled.

“Yeah! We did our best!” Mr. 9 shouted.

“Calm down. Take a look at this. I did some checking up on them.” Mr. 8 showed them Chika’s wanted poster.

“Wh-What the…?”

“Thirty million berries?!” They collectively exclaimed.

“Only a fool judges a pirate by his appearance, Miss Bunbay…Mi-Mi! Ms. Monday.” He corrected himself. The two that ran into him earlier looked at each other.

“Those guys are…”

“I’m so ashamed.” Ms. Monday stated.

“Oh well, I’ve taken care of them. We can still make a favorable report to the boss. Take everything of value from their ship and tie them up immediately!” Mr. 8 began. “If we have to kill them, their value drops by 30 percent. The government wants to execute them publicly.”

“Sorry, but…” A voice came from behind them, catching all 4 of them off guard. “...Would you let them sleep a while longer? They’re tired from the voyage.” People ran from outside of the building.

“Mr. 8! Ms. Monday! One of them got away!” Igarappoi turned to the figure above, that was on the top of the tavern.

“You! But you were passed out!” With the moonlight behind them, they were nothing but a shadowy figure. The only thing that defined them was the sword they held up.

“A true swordsman never drinks themself into a stupor.” Kanan stood up, lowering Wado Ichimonji. “A den of bounty hunters can be a dangerous place. You trick pirates into celebrating their passage on the Grand Line!” The ones who gathered outside prepared their weapons.

“Looks to be a hundred bounty hunters. I’ll take you on…” She observed.

“...Baroque Works.” Shouts and shocked faces spread through the crowd, even reaching Mr. 8.

“Why you…! How do you know the name of our secret society?!” Mr. 9 demanded.

“Long ago, when I was in your line of work, your organization tried to recruit me. Naturally, I turned you down.” Kanan explained, with her other hand on her hip. “There’s total secrecy within your ranks. You even use code names.”

“And of course, the identity of the boss and his where-abouts are a mystery to everyone. You’re Baroque Works, a bunch of crooks who loyally obey him.” The swordsman smirked, then darkly chuckled. “Heh...was that a secret?”

“...This is unexpected! But if you know about our organization, you must die.” Mr. 9 told her. “...One more tombstone to adorn the cactus rocks!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have finally returned.


	4. 100 Bounty Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan fights alone against 100 bounty hunters.

“Kill her!” Igarappoi commanded, pointing in her direction. Kanan had mysteriously vanished, gone from the roof of the building.

“Huh?” They looked around, not able to locate her. Kanan was in the center of the crowd, also looking for herself.

“She’s gone!” Mr. 9 exclaimed.

“Where did she go?!” Mr. 8 questioned. When they all finally turned to the middle, they spotted her. 

“So...you guys wanna fight?” She grinned again. Both sides around her pointed their weapons at her.

“Why you...Don’t take us for fools!” One of them exclaimed. Kanan disappeared again.

“Fire!” Instead of hitting her, they shot at each other, taking themselves out.

“You idiots! She disappeared again! She’s quick!” Mr. 8 shouted. “Hurry up and kill her! She’s only one swordsman…” Suddenly, a sword went through his hair, sticking through the other side. Behind him was Kanan.

“But wouldn’t you prefer a dozen new tombstones?” The ones who didn’t shoot at each other pointed their guns at the swordsman, spotting her.

“There she is!” 

“Stop, you fools! You’ll shoot me as well! Don’t do it!” In their moment of hesitation, Mr. 8 turned around and blew into his saxophone, which fired off multiple bullets in their direction.

“Igarappa!” From then on, it was silence. Behind another building, Kanan sighed.

“...Was that a shot-gun? You could hurt someone with that.” Waiting in anticipation, the Baroque Works agents stood there.

“It appears we’ll have to be careful with them.” Mr. 9 stated.

“Where did the swordsman disappear to?”

“Does she really think she can take us on alone?” Ms. Monday asked.

“She knows about Baroque Works, and yet he showed his hand.” Still inside of the tavern, Chika was snoring loudly. The rest of the crew were still passed out throughout the building. Kanan, outside of the building, uncrossed her arms, and began to take out Yubashiri. She was still listening in on them.

“This is the perfect chance to test my new swords. I’ll give them a good workout.” She heard the click of a gun above her.

“Aha! There you are!” One of the agents fired at her. Kanan burst through the door behind her, landing in the center of the room. “She’s in the house!” Behind her were even more of them outside. Kanan dashed towards the table in the house, and lifted it up to block all of the incoming gunshots. She took out the sword with the black hilt.

“First, it’s Yubashiri!” Kanan exclaimed, slashing through the table. She quickly dashed out while they were distracted. They were confused as to how they weren’t cut by anything. Kanan looked down at her sword.

“Good sword. Nice and light.” They shouted in pain, her attack finally connecting. She began running away.

“There she is!” One of them yelled.

“Guess they found me.” She immediately began going up the stairs of a building.

“She’s heading for the roof!” When she got up, still holding onto the railing, another one had a cannon pointed at her. There were some more of them there too.

“Welcome!” They fired, and she bent backwards, the cannonball going through her legs and hitting the building behind her, exploding.

“That was close.” Kanan said. When she started to get back up, there were agents with swords starting to surround her.

“You’re finished!” 

While holding a barrel, Ms. Monday yelled, taking their attention away. She threw it at Kanan. 

“Never mind that! Kill her!” Still using one sword, she slashed the sword into 4 pieces, each of them individually hitting the attackers behind her.

“Darn, what a waste. All that good brew.” A guy with a rock attached to a stick tried to hit her, and she took out the Sandai Kitetsu. Kanan turned around and slashed clean through it.

“It sliced through that stone mallet! Sandai Kitetsu has a great edge!” She turned back around to glance at it. “But a legendary sword should cut only when its master wants it to. This one’s a problem child!” Down on the ground again, this time, a child tried to stab her in the back. When she spun around, he dropped the knife. A woman appeared to console the fearful child.

“Oh please, have mercy on us! Have mercy!” She exclaimed, making Kanan pause. She took out a cross, and sprayed a gas at her. “Bless you! Gesund-HIt!”

“Use that sorry trick on someone with a kinder heart.” The woman took out a sword and the child took out a gun to try and finish her off. Since this caught them off guard, Kanan hit them with her blades. “I used the back of the sword. Forgive me.” They fell over, and she started climbing a ladder.

“She’s heading for the roof again! Trap her!” The other agents began going up the ladder as well. When they reached the top, Kanan gripped the sides of it. Grunting, she pushed it over.

“The ladder’s falling!” She leaped onto the final step and pushed it down, going to the other building. The ladder crashed into the pavement below.

“She’s jumping this way! Shoot her!” One of them yelled, and all of them on that side fired at her, the shots missing.

“Hawk…” She began, rearing back her arms, and once she landed on the ground, knocked them all back. “Wave!” Noticing that there were more coming in from above, Kanan began cutting a circle around herself. She started to walk towards the inside of the other place.

“Look out for the hole I made.” The other agents fell through, straight into the building. Ms. Monday appeared behind her and tried to hit Kanan with the ladder she held. She dropped to the ground to dodge her. “Hey, watch it! You nicked me!” Ms. Monday began sliding brass knuckles on her hand. She pinned Kanan to the ground using her feet.

“Superhuman…” The fist was incoming. “Brass Knuckles!” On impact to her face, a large crack formed below them. Mr. 8 was watching them from afar.

“What a waste…” He cleared his voice yet another time. “Mi-Mi-Mi! Of time.” Ms. Monday yelled in pain, while Kanan held onto her face as hard as she could. She was trying to get her hand off, gripping tightly on her arm. “What?!”  
“You think you’re strong? Wanna see who’s stronger?” Kanan asked. When she stopped struggling, she let go of her, and she fell back to the ground.

“No way! Ms. Monday lost the battle of strength! Impossible!” Blood was on Kanan’s face from taking the punch from her, dripping down her forehead.

“Shall we keep going, Baroque Works? I like to finish what I start.” She licked at the red substance from her face.

“It’s clear to me now! The Navy got the wanted poster wrong!” Mr. 8 exclaimed.

“I can see how this guy could be worth 50 million berries. He must be the real captain!” Mr. 9 added.

“Very well, then let’s fight him like he is one. Shall we?” Chika was still knocked out on the tavern floor, sleeping in content. 

“Any more of that meat left?” She said in her slumber. 

“It seemed weird that a good natured kid like her would be worth 50 million!”

“How disgraceful. Losing to a lone pirate swordsman after the boss left the town in our care.” Igarappoi began. “This means we’ve failed him.” He placed the saxophone’s mouthpiece into his mouth, and began to breathe in. Mr. 8 fired the bullets yet again.

“Igarappa!” Kanan maneuvered to the point of the building where none of the bullets could reach her.

“Ready, Ms. Wednesday?!” Mr. 9 shouted.

“Ready, Mr. 9!” When he jumped into the air, she made a call of some sorts. “Come, Karoo!” An animal ran in after hearing the noise.

“Quack!” It stood still at the same spot.

“Don’t just wag your tail...Move it!” Ms. Wednesday got onto the ultra spotbill. “All right! Show him the powers that put a panther’s to shame!”

“Quack!” The spotbill sat down.

“Hey! Who told you to sit?!” Kanan stared down at their bickering.

“What in the world _is_ that?” She questioned. A figure appeared above her, laughing proudly.

“I wouldn’t turn your back if I were you.” Kanan looked back at her, watching them jump down from the top. “Can you keep up with my acrobatics?! Hot-Blooded…” They began flipping, taking out two weapons.

“...Bat of Guts!” She blocked Mr. 9’s attack with the Sandai Kitetsu. He moved again, this time behind her. “Haha! Careful now, don’t nick your sword! This is a metal bat!” He landed, feet hitting the ground. Kanan lifted one of her swords quietly.

“Huh? What’s wrong? Too scared to move?” She turned quickly, putting the sword directly in the agents’ face. Kanan kept up a barrage of lance-like strikes, watching him frantically block them with his bats.

“Where’d those ‘acrobatics’ of yours go?” Kanan smirked, gradually pushing him back bit by bit.

“You wanna see them so badly? Then take a good look!” He flipped back, realizing too late that he just jumped off the building. The swordsman looked away from the loud crashing noise back to where she was previously. The blood had almost dried on her face.

“Isn’t there anyone worth fighting here?” Right when she said that, she spotted Ms. Wednesday standing on Karoo, the spotbill in question drinking some water.

“You want someone worth fighting? That would be me! Prepare to die, Ms. Bushido!” She shouted, then raised her arms. “Take a good look at my outfit.” In confusion, Kanan did as she was told.

“Enchanting Vertigo Dance!” The swordsman was hypnotized by watching her move, and fell over. Ms. Wednesday put a ring on her pinky finger, one that had a tiny blade attached to it. “And now for the finale...Peacock Slasher! All right Karoo!” They charged at Kanan, who still couldn’t get up. The blade was spinning on her finger, creating the illusion of a peacock.

“Quack!” Karoo then went right around Kanan, running straight towards the edge of the roof.

“You’re going the wrong way!” She exclaimed, as they fell straight off the building. A blush spread across Kanan’s face.

“...I’m embarrassed to fight these guys.” Now, Mr. 8 was on the top of the roof.

“Igarappa!” He used the same attack again, and Kanan jumped out of the way and into the hole she created beforehand. “Fleeting down a rabbit hole won’t save you.” The swordsman ran out the building and to the first alleyway she could find.

“Now I’ll give you a taste of real fear.”

  
  


…

  
  


Leaning back on the wall, Kanan finally had a chance to breathe again.

“That’s one nasty shotgun. What to do…?” In front of her, Mr. 9 burst out of the rubble. He took out his metal bats again.

“That was some trick you pulled! I’ll get you for it!” 

“It wasn’t my fault you fell.” She told him. 

“Home-Run Hide-A-Bat!” One of the bats fired off, rapping around Kanan’s arm. “I’ve got her arm!” 

“There she is.” Mr. 8 said, still above him. Kanan noticed that the rope around her was made out of steel.

“Now! Do it, Mr. 8! We’ve got you now!” Mr. 9 shouted, laughing again.

“He’s right!” Out of the shadows, Ms. Wednesday appeared with Karoo, now with the still sleeping Chika in tow. “Try anything stupid, and I’ll kill your precious friend.”

“Very good, Ms. Wednesday! You can’t run away and you can’t fight back!” Even with a knife pointed at her, Chika was passed out, snoring loudly.

“At least be awake when you’re taken hostage!” Kanan stated. Pulling on the thin bow tie on his dress shirt, guns came out of each curl of his hair. 

“Preparations are complete!”

“What?!” He tied the strings around his thumbs and pulled them apart, firing the weapons.

“Igarappappa!” Kanan used her other hand to grab onto the rope, and began pulling on it as hard as she could.

“What is he? Some kind of toy?” She managed to get Mr. 9 into the air, high enough for him to be in the direct crosshairs of the cannons. He got hit by them, and while still covered in smoke from the explosions, Kanan yanked on it again. This time, she flung him right at his partner, Ms. Wednesday. 

“Igarappappa!” He yelled again. Now with her arm free, she jumped into the air over to her captain.

“Chika! Lend me your belly!” Since it was still big from all the food she ate, Kanan landed on her stomach. She bounced off of her and grabbed onto her swords, flying straight in Mr. 8’s direction. Kanan cut him and landed back onto the roof, as he dropped to the ground. “All right…”

“...It’s over.” In her next chance to get a breather, she felt a small pain coming from that scar she got from Eli back on Awashima…

_“You have been blessed with my flames, little demon.” Yohane told Kanan, while healing her. When they stopped, Kanan leaned up, stretching a bit._

_“I feel good as new. What did you do?”_

_“Since we can not properly stitch your wound, I have closed it up for you, and gotten rid of your hurt. As long as you do not do anything foolish, it shall suffice for now.” Yohane explained. “We will get it properly fixed for you by one of the medical geniuses in the Grand Line...perhaps from that one royal island?” The fallen angel looked at Mari._

_“They’re the best of the best! Though, I remember reading somewhere that the island got taken over…” Kanan perked up at that._

_“How did a royal family’s island get taken down?”_

_“Supposedly their queen was the bulk force of their army. Once she was gone, it was easy.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if any of you are wondering, yes, the events of arlong park did happen after awashima, but for different reasons. i was extremely lazy before my month long hiatus and didn't add it in. when we get to a saga break i might write the arc then.


	5. The Secret Criminal Organization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Identities are revealed.

With her stomach still inflated, Chika rose up from the ground as far as she could. 

“...Huh? Why am I outside?” She scratched her head in confusion, looking around. “Ugh...My tummy’s starting to hurt.” Not noticing the defeated Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday, she laid back down to fall back asleep.

“Guess I’ll take a nap.” 

  
  


…

  
  


“I can’t believe four of our top 12 agents just lost to that guy!” One of the underlings exclaimed, a group of them running as fast as they could.

“We’d better lay low till those pirates leave the island.” They all came to a screeching halt when they saw in front of them…

“It’s The Unluckies!”

“H-Hold on, uh, we weren’t running away. We just needed to use the restroom!” They scrambled to find an excuse. The Unluckies started to fly towards them.

“Hold it!” A voice shouted, and they landed on the ground.

“The town’s awfully busy for the middle of the night.” A female voice stated.

“Hmph. This assignment is a bore, and so’s this two-bit outpost.” A male voice said.

“Hey, who are you?!” They questioned, then pointing their firearms at the two figures. “You’d better start talking!” The Unluckies looked back at them with a shocked look.

“I’m Mr. 5.” 

“I’m Ms. Valentine.”

  
  
  


…

  
  


Back at the tavern, Kanan wiped her hands together, after pushing Mr. 8 and Ms. Monday’s bodies off the roof. “...That’s the last of them. Finally, a nice, quiet night.” She sat down with her swords behind her, and began taking a swig of a bottle she had brought with her from the ship. Kanan looked to the right of her.

“Maybe it’s just me, but I have a funny feeling…” 

Mr. 8 started to wake up, coughing with blood coming from his mouth.

“No way am I going to die here!” He thought, slowly coming up from the ground. “I have a special duty to-”  
“Oh, the shame...beaten by a lone swordsman.” A figure said from behind him. Mr. 8’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Mr. 5?! Ms. Valentine!”

“What’re you fooling around for? Huh?” Mr. 5 questioned him.

“Kyahahaha! What do you expect from someone of his rank?” Ms. Valentine mocked him. Mr. 8 was still wheezing.

“Did you come to laugh at us?”

“No, that’s just a bonus.” He told him. Ms. Valentine laughed again.

“We’re here on official business, of course.” Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday arose this time, all 3 of them still struggling.

“Glad to hear it. With your help, we can easily take him.” Mr. 9 said.

“Yeah, hurry up and finish the swordsman!”  
“...You must be joking.”

“Help you? You think we came all the way to the Grand Line to do your dirty work? Kyahahaha!” 

“What? Then why are you here?!” Mr. 9 demanded.

“Don’t you get it? Why would the boss send the two of us?” Mr. 5 responded.

“The boss’s exact words were, ‘My secret is out.’ Of course, I don’t know what the secret is.” She went on.

“Our organization’s motto is ‘mystery.’ We never reveal the identity of any of our people.” Mr. 5 took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms. “Especially not the boss’s.”

“In our investigation, we discovered...that agents of a certain monarchy have infiltrated Baroque Works.” Mr. 9 was quick to get up off the ground and defend himself.

“What?! Hey, wait a minute! I may wear a crown, but I’m no king! I swear!” He frantically told them.

“Not you!”

“My cover’s blown! I’m finished!” Igarappoi thought, still not facing them. Kanan was watching them from above, noticing her captain was on the ground in the middle of it.

“Uh oh, Chika’s still flat on her back.” 

“The spy is someone who’s gone missing from the kingdom of Alabasta.” Mr. 5 continued. Mr. 8 pulled on his tie, firing the explosions.

“Die! Igarappappa!” He shouted, the explosion hitting the higher ranked agent head on. “I won’t let you touch her, on my honor as commander of the royal guard of the kingdom of Alabasta!” He went on in his mind.

“Mr. 8?”   
“Igaram!” Ms. Wednesday yelled.

“Igaram?!” Mr. 9 asked in confusion.

“Run for it! Please!” Igaram told Ms. Wednesday, but to no avail, as Ms. Valentine was quick to appear above her.

“It’s no use!” She laughed again, striking at the guard keeping her hair in a ponytail. Ms. Valentine used her umbrella to return back in the air. Behind her, Igaram was hit by an explosion, falling over.

“The enemy agents are…” Ms. Valentine landed next to Mr. 5. “Igaram, commander of the royal guard of the kingdom of Alabasta! And…” He held up a photo of Ms. Wednesday.

“The Princess of Alabasta, Nefeltari Vivi!” Her true identity exposed, she gritted her teeth.

“You fiend!” Mr. 9 bowed before her, the smoke from the explosion still there.

“Ms. Wednesday, y-you’re a princess?!”

“Cut it out!” Kanan grabbed Chika by the back of her vest, dragging her away from the scene.

“Geez, what a night. You guys have fun.” Mr. 5 began picking at his nose.

“In the name of the boss of Baroque Works, I shall dispose of you!” Vivi took out her Peacock Slasher and started spinning it, but Mr. 9 stood in front of her.

“You wish…! Huh?”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re my partner. I shall stall them for you!” He shouted, with one of his metal bats in hand.  
“So long, baby. Hot-Blooded Bat of Guts!” He spun towards Mr. 5.

“Mr. 9!”

“Hmm. Your only loyalty should be to Baroque Works and the boss.” He took out a booger from his nose. “Anyone stupid enough to sacrifice himself for partner deserves to die.” Mr. 5 prepared to fling it. “Here, I’ll give you a taste of my Nez-Palm…” Mr. 9 reeled back, preparing to land a hit. “Cannon!” He flung it, the booger flew towards him with a trail of smoke, exploding on impact. Mr. 9 was sent flying into a nearby building.

“Whoa, his boogers pack a wallop!” Kanan exclaimed, then felt something grab her foot. She looked down to see Igaram. “What do you want?!”

“Ms. Bushido! You’re strong! Please grant my humble request!” He yelled.

“Aw, get up! I don’t wanna hear it! Let go of me!”

“Those two are formidable fighters! There’s no way I can defeat them! Please! Protect the princess for me!” He demanded. “Please!” Vivi got on Karoo.

“Karoo! Run!”

“Quack!” The spotbill sped off as fast as it could.

“She got away.” Ms. Valentine said.

“No, there’s no escape. After her, Ms. Valentine!” They ran off after the spotbill and the princess.

“Right, Mr. 5! Kyahaha!”

“Please escort my princess to Alabasta, a great kingdom in the far east! You shall be rewarded handsomely!” Igaram continued. “I beg you! Please save her!”

“Just how handsomely are we talking?” A voice questioned, close to them.

“We’ll do it for a billion berries!” Riko told him, legs crossed over the ledge of one of the buildings.

“Riko!”

“A-A billion?” He cleared his voice yet again. “Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi!” Chika was still snoring, asleep on the ground.

“You must still be tipsy.” Kanan spoke to her, as she slid off the building, landing on the ground.

“Do you  _ really _ think I’d get tipsy in a town that welcomed pirates? Give me more credit than that.” She countered. “That was all an act! I can drink way more than that.” 

“...Oh, I see.”

“Well? Will you pay us a billion or not, chief? Because without our help, it looks like your princess is gonna die.” She grinned.

“Hmph! I am but a humble soldier! I cannot possibly guarantee such a sum!” He told her. Riko got down to eye level with him.

“What? Are you saying she isn’t worth it?” He stumbled to find a defence to his reasoning. “Pay up.”

“That’s blackmail.” 

“Ahem...Well...If you deliver the princess safely to her kingdom...and negotiate the fee with her, there should be no problem!” Igaram responded.

“You expect us to save her before we get our money?” His eyes widened.

“They may be killing her highness as we speak!” Riko rose from the ground, sighing.

“Alright, we’ll save your princess first. Let’s go, Kanan!” She commanded.

“Are you crazy?! Why should  _ I _ go along with your silly money making scheme?!” Kanan questioned her.

“You’re so stupid! The money’s all mine, but the contract obligates the whole crew!” 

“What kind of logic is that?!”

“Come on, all you have to do is swing your sword a little!” Chika woke up again, standing up.

“I don’t like being used!” Kanan interjected, clearly not a big fan of this idea. “I’m not like that stupid cook!”

“You don’t think you can beat them, do you?” Riko asked her.

“What? Say that again!” While their bickering went on, their captain walked right past them.

“I said, you don’t think you can beat them!”

“Stop repeating yourself!”

“I think you’ve forgotten something. You owe me!” Riko said. Kanan crossed her arms.

“What? No, I don’t.” 

“Remember the 100,000 berries I lent you to buy a sword in Loguetown?” She brought up.

“I paid you back! Anyway, I got that sword for free, so I didn’t even need your money.” 

“Yeah, but you promised to pay me 300% interest!”

_ Kanan looked at Riko. “There’s something I want to buy, too.” _

_ “I’d be honored to give you some money…” She began. “...At 300% interest.”  _

“You still owe me 300,000 berries.” In Riko’s mind, these calculations are correct.

“I gave you back what I borrowed. Isn’t that enough?” The swordsman tried to reason with her.

“No. Aren’t you going to...keep your word?” Kanan’s expression quickly turned to annoyance. “If you help me, I’ll forgive your debt.”

“You’re gonna pay in the afterlife.” Kanan complained, storming off in the direction that they went.

“I know. I’m going to blazes.”

“We owe you a great debt!” Igaram told Riko, gaining her attention. “If only I were stronger, then I could protect my princess!”

“It’s alright. Kanan’s as strong as an ox.” She replied.

“If anything should happen to the princess, our kingdom would crumble! She must live!” 

…

  
  


“They’ve found us! Hurry, Karoo!” Vivi shouted, looking behind them. 

“Quack!”  
“There’s a boat docked behind Cactus Crag.” A figure stepped in front of them, blocking her path. “Ms. Monday!”

“Go on! Board the boat.” She told Vivi, holding a piece of wood as a weapon. “They won’t get past here.”

“But…”

“Thanks to the swordsman, we’ll probably all be executed anyway. And if that’s the case, I’d rather die helping a friend.” Ms. Monday explained to her. “Now go!” Karoo went past her.

“Thank you!” Vivi said. Mr. 5 rolled up his sleeve.

“First Mr. 9, now you, Ms. Monday?” 

“Kyahaha! How funny!”

“You...are a disgrace…” Mr. 5 charged towards her, Ms. Monday getting ready for the attack. He hit her with his exposed arm, an explosion firing off. “...To Baroque Works!” She fell back onto the ground, letting go of the tree. His arm was enveloped in smoke. “I’m human dynamite. I can ignite my entire body. With my Boom-Boom Fruit powers, I am unstoppable!” He explained, taking another booger from his nose.

“You’ll never escape. Nez-Palm Cannon!” He flung it at Vivi. Kanan stuck her sword in the ground in front of her, slicing it in two, the halves each exploding outside of Karoo’s path. Kanan took out her sword from the ground.

“Ms. Bushido!” Vivi exclaimed.

“Who is that girl?” Mr. 5 questioned. The swordsman looked at Wado Ichimonji in disgust.

“Eww, I sliced your boogers in two!” She complained, not wanting to wipe it with her other hand.

“Darn it! She’s such a nuisance! I don’t have time for this now!” Vivi tried to strike her with her Peacock Slasher, but Kanan put her sword in front of her to stop it.

“Not so fast. I’m here to rescue you.” 

“...What?...Rescue?”

  
  


…

  
  
  


“So...just what is Baroque Works?” Riko asked while sitting on a barrel. Igaram was still lying on the ground.

“It’s a secret criminal organization. Not a soul in it knows what the boss looks like. It mostly deals in espionage, assasination, theft, and bounty hunting. The boss tells everyone what to do.” He explained to her.

“You don’t even know what he looks like? Then why do you all obey him?” 

“The ultimate goal of Baroque Works...is to create a utopia.” He began. “Those of us who work for Baroque Works have been promised high positions in that utopia.”

“...I see.” Riko responded.

“His name is Mr. Zero. The closer your code name is to zero, the higher your position, and the more powerful you are!” He went on. “Those with code names below five are especially dangerous. Their power is...immense.”

  
  


…

  
  


“Ah, that’s better. I think I’ll go back to sleep.” Chika walked through the city, heading back from where she went to. In the corner of her eye, she spotted something. “Huh?”

“...What the heck?!”

  
  


…

  
  


“So you’re the one who’s been killing our people?” Ms. Valentine asked Kanan.

“Hmm...Why would a girl like you want to protect the princess of Alabasta?” Mr. 5 wondered.

“I have my reasons.”

“Hmph. Whatever. You’re our enemy, and you’re in our way.” Ms. Valentine closed her umbrella, reaching for her hat.

“Kyahaha! Yeah, you’re in the way, and I’m going to use my power to…” She held it in one hand. “Bury you deep into the ground.”

“Kanan!” Chika exclaimed, finally finding her.

“ _ Now _ what?” She was presumably huffing in tiredness from running the way here…

“Chika, how’s it going? Look, you don’t have to get involved in this...or do you owe her money, too?” Kanan asked her captain.

“I’ve had it with you! We’re gonna fight!” Chika yelled in a sudden outburst. Kanan’s jaw dropped to the ground in shock.

“What?!”


	6. Chika vs Kanan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because of a misunderstanding, Kanan and Chika fight against each other.

“What are you talking about?!” Kanan exclaimed in confusion from her captain’s sudden hatred for her.

“Shut up! I’m gonna pulverize you, you ungrateful jerk!” Chika responded.

“Ungrateful?!”

“That’s right!”

_ Chika, after finding the large group of people sprawled out on the ground in one place, tried questioning one of them. _

_ “What happened? Who did this?!” _

_ “Your partner...the swordsman with the blue hair.” The man told her. _

“You’re gonna pay for that! The townspeople welcomed us, they fed us, they showered us with kindness…” She began shouting. “...and you went and chopped them up!” Kanan tried to think about it from her captain’s point of view, but drew a blank from thinking too hard.

“...Well,  _ yeah _ , but…” Vivi just stared at the two.

“Can she really be that dense?”

“Looks like she’s the swordsman’s friend. What an irritating pair.” Mr. 5 complained.

“Kyahaha! Let’s get rid of them. Anyone who interferes with our mission must be eliminated!” Ms. Valentines Day said.

“Listen, Chika. These people are all-” The still inflated Chika jumped towards Kanan, reeling back her fist.

“I don’t wanna hear your excuses!” After she quickly moved her head to the side, the arm went straight past her, turning the rock behind her into rubble. 

“H-Hey! You’re really trying to kill me?!” Kanan asked her.

“That’s right. Die!” 

“Wha…?!” Chika stretched her leg to try and kick Kanan, who jumped over it. It broke the wall behind her even more. “Listen to me!” Chika didn’t budge, and tried to headbutt Kanan. She dodged it again, flipping over to a different spot. “She’s gone crazy!” Their fighting continued, the two Baroque Works agents watching.

“Mr. 5, they seem busy with their own affairs.”

“I think you’re right, Ms. Valentine. In that case, let’s get on with our mission…” They turned around, the two pirates crashing into another building in front of them. “...and finish Princess Vivi of Alabasta.” They began dashing towards her. “Come, Ms. Valentine!”

“Right, Mr. 5!”

“Quit messing around!” Kanan kicked Chika as hard as she could, which ended up having her collide with the two agents, sending them flying into the closest building. “That idiot!” The three of them lied down on the inside of the building, Mr. 5 being the first to stand up.

“You may be trying to kill each other, but you keep getting in our way!” He shouted. Ms. Valentine got up as well.

“You clumsy fools!” She added. Mr. 5 pushed up his sunglasses.

“So, why don’t we do the job for you?” He rolled up his sleeve. “How about that?” Chika huffed. From outside, Kanan and Vivi looked on to see consecutive explosions come out from the building after the prolonged silence. Ms. Valentine arose from the smoke, floating in the air.

“I’ve had it! Feel the power from my Kilo-Kilo Fruit!” She laughed. “Kyahaha! Prepare to die! I only weigh one kilogram, light enough to land on a cloud of dust!”

“Ms. Bushido! Move! That woman is-” Vivi began, before getting interrupted by Kanan.

“Be quiet! I have more things to be worrying about right now!” Walking out of the building was Chika, carrying the defeated Mr. 5 with one hand. 

“Ah, that was a nice work out. I finally managed to digest some of that food.” She stated, patting down at her stomach. 

“She...she defeated one of the best officer agents of Baroque Works? How is that possible?!” 

“Alright, now let’s get down to business.” Kanan attempted to reason with her again.

“Chika, calm down and hear me out for a sec. The people here are all bounty hunters!” Ms. Valentine was still above her.

“Don’t…”

“They’re our…”  
“...Ignore me!”

“...Enemies.” Chika dropped the unconscious agent on the ground.

“Stop lying! They’d never have fed us like that if they were enemies!” She yelled.

“Listen to me! I have the power to change my eight at will...from one to 10,000 kilograms!” Ms. Valentine shouted down to Kanan. “Feel my 10,000 Kill-O-Press!” She went straight into the ground next to the swordsman, who simply moved to the side to grab her bandana.

“Chika, talking to you is a waste of breath.” Kanan tied the bandana onto her head. “Alright, you idiot! Have it your way! I’ll fight you for real, but don’t come crying to me when I kill you!” 

“Fine!” Her captain exclaimed, while Kanan took out her swords.

“What’s going on? Aren’t they on the same side?” Vivi questioned. Chika stretched her arms back, running towards Kanan.

“Gum-Gum…” Kanan dashed towards her, crossing her arms, preparing to strike.

“Oni…”

“Bazooka!”  
“Giri!” The clash sent a shockwave from the two of them. One of Chika’s hands had a grip on Kanan’s shoulder, the other one holding onto her arm. She used the bottom of her sandal to block all of Kanan’s swords at once. “Now we’ll find out who’s superior, the swordsman or the fighter.” Kanan said through the sword in her teeth.

“Good! Let’s settle this right now!” The swordsman turned Yubashiri around in her hand.

“Tatsumaki!” She exclaimed, launching Chika into the air with the pseudo tornado. 

“Gum-Gum Pistol!” She yelled, extending her arm to punch Kanan right in the face. The two of them both landed in a wall of a building.

It was extremely quiet after this part of their fight, leaving both Vivi and Karoo worried.

“What am I supposed to do? I need to escape, but...is it safe to go through there?” She pondered. After going forward a bit, the two pirates emerged from their respective buildings, charging towards each other with Vivi and Karoo really close to the middle of them. Chika and Kanan clashed again, then kept going at each other. Close to the commotion, Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine returned.

“Blast, they beat us. We’re officer agents of Baroque Works! This is a disgrace!” He exclaimed, standing up.

“You’re right, Mr. 5...so let’s show them our true power!” They bolted towards them again. Stopping in the middle of their fight, the two of them glared at the agents.

“Shut up!” They came to a halt. “You’re interrupting…” Chika and Kanan both hit them at the same time, this time sending them flying for good. “...Our fight!!” The agents landed in the buildings behind them, a large cloud of dust surrounding them.

“They’re so noisy.” Kanan stated.

“Who are those guys?” Chika asked.

“...Incredible! Who would’ve thought that pirates like these could still be found at the start of the Grand Line…” Vivi said after watching the whole thing. Kanan glanced over to her captain.

“Wanna finish this?”

“Sure.” They prepared to strike at each other again, staring each other down. Before they could launch their attacks…

“Stop it!” Riko appeared behind them and punched both of them in the face, the two falling onto the ground. “Just what do you think you’re doing?! You’re lucky that you managed to keep the girl safe,” She picked them both up by their collars. “But do you realize that you could’ve cost me a billion berries?!”

“What do you mean? Why are you helping me?” Vivi questioned her. Even while being held up, the two still tried to fight each other.

“Oh, well...we have business to discuss. What say we negotiate?” Riko asked.

“...Negotiate?” 

“Cut it out!” Riko exclaimed, punching them again, knocking them flat on their faces. Karoo was now trembling in fear.

…

After a while, they finally explained to the extremely uninformed Chika the whole situation, making the captain burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Well, why didn’t you say so? I thought you got mad and beat everyone up cause they didn’t have the food you wanted!” She exclaimed.

“That’s something  _ you _ would do!” Kanan shouted back, mad she would assume something like that. Chika laughed again.

“Oh well, don’t be mad.”

“That’s impossible! But, I’m very grateful for you having saved my life.” Vivi said in response to Riko telling her the deal with Igaram. “Thank you.”

“But why? You’re a princess, aren’t you?” She asked. “What’s a million berries to you?”

“What do you know about Alabasta?”

“Never heard of it.” Riko said.

“You see, Alabasta was once the most civilized nation on the Grand Line...and the most peaceful, at one time.”

“At one time?”

“The citizens of Alabasta have grown rebellious in recent years. Riots and uprising have thrown the kingdom into turmoil. Then one day, I learned of a secret organization...called Baroque Works.” Vivi went on. “The rumor was that agents of Baroque Works had been stirring up the citizens. But try as I might, I couldn’t uncover information that would help us fight these criminals. So, I went to Igaram, who has looked after me since I was a child…” 

Chika mimicked Igaram’s hair with her hands. “The guy with the giant rollers?”

“I hoped to find the source of the rumors and infiltrate Baroque Works. I could then find out who was pulling the strings and learn his intentions.” Kanan smirked a little.

“You’re pretty brave for a princess.” She stated.

“But isn’t the goal of Baroque Works to create the ideal country? Then…” Riko questioned. “...why would…?”

“The boss deceives his minions with talk of an ideal country. The true aim of Baroque Works is the conquest of Alabasta! I’ve got to return to my land and stop the rebellion before my people throw themselves into Baroque Works’ clutches.”

“So that’s how it is. I’m starting to get the picture.” Riko sighed. “With your country in chaos, there’s no money to be made there.”

“But who’s pulling the strings?” Chika curiously asked.

“I can’t tell you the boss’s identity! What a question! Don’t ask me that! I can’t tell you! If I did, they’d hunt you down too!” Vivi answered frantically. Riko chuckled a bit at her antics.

“That’s okay, don’t tell us. If he wants to take over a whole kingdom, he must be one scary guy!”

“That he is. You’re very strong, but…” She began. “...You’re no match for Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!” 

…

…

…

“...You just told us.” Kanan said, the rest of them collectively gasping, Vivi going to cover her mouth. 

Coincidentally, the Unluckies were watching them from the top of the building right next to them. The bird and the otter looked at each other, and then flew off into the air.

Riko began freaking out, shaking the princess repeatedly, the both of them in tears.

“The bird and the otter! Who are they?!” She demanded.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Vivi mumbled, dizzy from all of the movement. Chika beamed, grinning excitedly.

“Hear that? One of the seven warlords…” She mused.

“This could be fun.” Kanan responded, also interested in this. Even though the group had already encountered three members of μ's, and they were out of their league completely, this would be a way simpler challenge. 

“I-I’m sorry! It slipped out!” Vivi tried to explain, still being shaken.

“Slipped out?! Now those creeps will be after us, too!” Riko then started sobbing, wiping the tears with one of her hands.

“We finally reach the Grand Line and we’re already wanted by the Seven Warlords of the Sea. This is too much!”

“We’re lucky. We’ll get to meet him soon.” Kanan said.

“I wonder what he’s like.” Chika stated.

“You two, shut up!” The navigator then turned around to stomp off. “It was a brief partnership while it lasted. I’m out of here!”

“Hey Riko, where are you going?”

“He has no idea what I look like! I’m getting away from here!” In front of her path, she spotted an otter drawing something on a notepad, accompanied by a bird. Soon after, it showed her drawn portraits of her, Kanan, and Chika.

“Wow, you’re good!” She clapped for the animal, but then realized it was just the Unluckies. They flew off again, leading Riko to turn back around. “Now there’s nowhere left to run!”

“I-I’m sorry.” Vivi told her again.

“Isn’t she funny?” Chika said.

“Where were you planning to run to, anyway?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that this is a day late, I was halfway done with this chapter but then I got holed up in playing p4g


	7. Ms. All Sunday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew are ready to leave Whisky Peak, but suddenly...!

Soon after, Igaram appeared with three dummy’s, while dressed as Vivi. He explained that the Boss, Sir Crocodile, has a frozen bounty of 80 million berries thanks to his warlord status. Vivi gave Igaram an Eternal Pose for Alabasta. 

_“A normal log pose guides you from one island to the next along the Grand Line. But the Eternal Pose remembers one location forever. No matter where you go, it always points to the same island.” Igaram held up said Eternal Pose. “This is it. The magnetic coordinates of Alabasta are recorded in it.”_

Igaram’s plan was to divert Baroque Works’ attention so the princess could go with Aqours and return to Alabasta the usual way. He set off on a ship, on his way to the kingdom.

“He’s gone. That guy was a laugh to the very end.” Chika said, chuckling after.

“He may not look it, but he’s very reliable.” Vivi added. When they turned to head to their ship, a huge explosion came from behind them. Fire blazed seemingly from everywhere they could look, definitely engulfing the ship Igaram departed on. 

“It can’t be! They got to him already?!” Vivi watched the explosion in silence.

“I liked that guy!” Chika shouted.

“Riko, how’s the Log Pose?” Kanan asked her.

“I-It’s all set.”

“Then bring it! We’re setting sail!” Chika and Kanan began running off. Riko noticed that Vivi wasn’t moving, grabbing her shoulder.

“Princess Vivi, hurry! If they find us, we’re goners!” The princess had been biting her lip so hard it began to draw blood. Riko hesitated at first, but then went to hug her. “It’s alright, we’ll get you to Alabasta!”

“Hey, Chika! Go wake up the other two! I’m heading to the ship.” Kanan told her captain, the two breaking off paths.

“Okay, I’ll get ‘em!”

“Those four saved the East Blue all by themselves!” Riko explained to Vivi. “The seven warlords of the sea? No problem!”

  
  


…

  
  


Somehow, Yoshiko had dressed up in her fallen angel garb, fake halo and all. Chika busted into the tavern, grabbing Mari by one of her legs, and Yoshiko by the top of one of her wings. She then bolted out of the door, breaking the front wall in the process, dragging her two crewmates along with her.

“OW!” Yoshiko yelled in pain. Maybe those wings _were_ real…

“Let’s go.” Chika said to them.

“Hey! What’re you doing, Chika?! Let go!!” Mari protested, being taken away from her heaven.

“My wing is gonna break off!!”

  
  


…

  
  


Kanan had gotten back to the ship, and already pulled the anchor up when Chika arrived.

“I got ‘em!” She shouted up to her. 

“Get aboard! We’re ready to sail!” Chika looked back at Mari and Yoshiko, who were knocked out cold.

“...Uh-oh. They went back to sleep!”

“We don’t have time to look for the bird!” Riko exclaimed.

“But I can’t leave him here!” Vivi responded to her.

“What’s wrong?” Kanan questioned them.

“Her duck, Karoo, is missing! He’s supposed to come when she whistles!” 

“You mean him?” Kanan pointed to said duck, who quacked. “He was on board when I got here.”

“There you are!” They both yelled at the same time. 

“Sail the ship upriver. We can catch the current a little farther up. That’ll put us on course faster, at least!” Vivi commanded.

“Let’s go!” The sail opened, displaying the straw hat wearing jolly roger.

“Huh, I wonder how many agents they’ll send after us.” Chika sat on the railing in front of the ship’s meeting room.

“I don’t know. Baroque Works has about 2,000 members, and I’ve heard there are other towns like Whiskey Peak...in these waters.” 

“We could have a thousand of them after us!” Riko said.

“It’s possible that they’d send that many to keep the boss’s identity a secret.”

  
  


…

  
  


In the midst of the explosion, the ship appeared to be completely destroyed. The dummies floated in the water, a silhouette looming behind them. Barely made out from the shadows, a figure sat cross legged on a round object, their face held in one of their hands.

“...A decoy. How silly.”

  
  


…

  
  


Mari and Yoshiko began a bombardment of questions. “Why’d we set sail!! Hey, what’s going on?! Wait, we can’t stay one more night?! It’s a fun town, and the girls are really cute!!” Mari complained.

“Yeah! Who knows when we’ll get to unwind again? Let’s relax and have fun! We’re pirates, after all! It’s not even morning yet!”

“Let’s go back! Are you listening?!” Kanan glanced at Riko, not wanting to listen to their antics.

“Explain things to them.”

“I did.” 

“There’s fog ahead, and it’s almost morning. Be careful not to run up on the rocks. I’m so glad you managed to escape.” A voice unknown to them said. “Nice ship.” They all turned to see who it was, Kanan immediately going to grab one of her swords. The figure’s eyes were almost completely covered from their hat.

“What?! Who’s that?!”

“I met your friend Mr. 8 earlier...Ms. Wednesday.” 

“Did you kill Igaram?” Vivi questioned her.

“Forget about that! How’d you get on our ship?!” Chika demanded.

“What are you doing here…” The former Baroque Works agent began. “...Ms. All Sunday?!” Laying down next to her was a sword. It had a dark red scabbard with a black flame pattern on it, the hilt having similar colors. 

“What now? Who’s her number partner?” Riko turned to Vivi.

“She’s Mr. Zero’s partner! She was the only one who knew the boss’s true identity.” She explained. “So we followed her, and found out who the boss was!” 

“Actually, I let you follow me.” 

“That was nice.” Chika was quick to decide.

“We knew that! But then you told the boss that we’d learned his true identity!”  
“Well, _that_ wasn’t nice!” Chika was quick to switch sides.

“Just what do you want?!” 

“I’m curious. You seemed so earnest...I just had to help you.” Ms. All Sunday responded. “A princess declaring war on Baroque Works to save her country. How pathetic!” Vivi remembered the words of Igaram.

_“May we meet again in our homeland.”_

“...Don’t underestimate us!” Kanan was about to take out Wado, but appearing on both sides of the agent was Mari and Yoshiko. Mari had a flintlock to her head, and Yoshiko pointed her slingshot.

“Hey...you know what you’re doing, right?” The false fallen angel asked her friend.

“ _No_ , not at all. But, it looked like my beloved Ms. Wednesday was in danger!” Mari answered. Ms. All Sunday sighed, slowly picking up her sword. Not bothering to take it out, she spun it around with the both of her hands.

“Don’t point…” The wind quickly gathered around her enough to knock both of them over the railing, and down to the floor. “...those things at me. It’s dangerous, you know.”

“Wh-What the-!” Kanan shouted in surprise. How could she just...do that?

“Whoa!” Chika said in amazement. The wind travelled down to them, knocking Kanan and Riko’s weapons out of their hands. Now that Mari was lower, she finally got a better look at her.

“S-She’s beautiful!” Was her first assessment. She also thought she looked very familiar, but that wasn’t as important. Ms. All Sunday chuckled for once, stopped spinning her sword and put it back down.

“Don’t get excited. I’m not on an assignment, so I have no reason to fight you.” The final gust of wind managed to lift Chika’s straw hat off of her head, it going over to the agent. She twirled it around her finger.

“So...you’re the captain of Aqours, huh? ‘Straw Hat’ Chika Takami…” She started. “...Do you prefer Takami D. Chika or Monkey D. Chika?” The captain completely ignored what she said, only concerned about her prized possession.

“Give me my back hat! That’s picking a fight!” Yoshiko hid behind the mast, pointing shakily at Ms. All Sunday.

“You’re our enemy! Now get lost!!” She put the straw hat on over her own hat.

“What rotten luck. You’re being hunted by Baroque Works just because you befriended a Princess...and you, Princess, your only protection is a bunch of pirates.” She directed it to Vivi. “But the worst luck of all, is where your Log Pose is sending you. You’re headed for a place called Little Garden. I guess we needn’t bother killing you after all.” Ms. All Sunday continued. “You’ll never reach Alabasta, or see Sir Crocodile’s face.”

“We’ll show you!! Now give me back my hat!” Chika exclaimed. 

“You...you...dummy head!” Yoshiko followed up.

“...Just how old are you?” Kanan questioned.

“Anyone can stand around and yell.” Ms. All Sunday tossed an object at Vivi, and Chika her hat. “But to sail knowingly into mortal danger is just idiotic.” The princess examined what she just gave her.

“It’s the Eternal Pose!”

“You’ll be able to bypass difficulty with that. It points to the island of nothing, which is one stop before Alabasta.” She offered. “It’s a route that even our agents know about, so no one will follow you.”

“Wait, is she one of the good guys?” Riko asked. Vivi looked back up to her.

“Why would you give us this?”

“It’s probably a trap.” Kanan told them.

“Who knows?” Ms. All Sunday responded.

“What to do? I don’t want her help, but these people are giving me a ride, so I should take the safest route possible.” Vivi pondered in her thoughts. Breaking her line of thinking, Chika took it out of her hands.

“Who needs that thing?”

“Huh?” Chika crushed it in her hand. Not taking lightly to this, Riko ran towards her and kicked her captain in the face.

“Are you crazy?! She just gave us an easy route! What if she was really trying to help us?” 

“She’s not deciding what course we take!” Chika argued. Ms. All Sunday smiled.

“...I see. Well, that’s too bad.”

“Oh, you!” Riko was about to explode in anger.

“I don’t like her. She blew up the guy with the rollers!” The agent stood up, walking away.

“I don’t have a problem with forceful pirates. We’ll meet again, if you survive, that is.”

“I hope not.” They didn’t have a good first impression of her. 

Ms. All Sunday got onto a turtle with a matching hat of hers, and sat down on a well cushioned seat. 

“Wow! A turtle!”

“Let’s go, Bunichi.” The two began sailing off. Chika watched them disappear over the horizon.

“It’s a big one.” Vivi dropped to the floor.

“Ugh, I wish I knew what her game was.”

“Well, there’s no use worrying about it now!” Riko told her.

“We’re used to scheming people around here.” Kanan added.

“Hey, what’s going on? I don’t get any of this!” Yoshiko asked. “Ms. Wednesday, are you really one of us?”

“I...I’m not sure I should be here. I’m putting you all in danger.”

“What are you saying?” Riko got down to her level. “It’s your fault they’re after us! If you don’t want to endanger us, you shouldn't have told us the boss’s identity!”

“I said I was sorry…”

“Right, Chika?”

“It’s morning! Mari, time for breakfast!” She said with renewed vigor.

  
  


…

  
  


Finally, they explained the whole situation to the oblivious Mari and Yoshiko.

“...I see. Sorry I missed the action, but I’ll have other chances to show my stuff. Never fear! The _sleeping knight_ has awakened and guarantees your safety.” Mari stated.

“I’m glad I slept through it.” Yoshiko told them. The cook looked at the navigator.

“Riko, do I detect a hint of _jealousy?_ ”

“Nope.” She quickly shut down. Yoshiko showed Vivi Chika’s bounty poster, pointing at the back of her head seen in the corner.

“Well, you can count on the fallen angel Yohane to help! Rumor has it that the 50 million berry reward on this poster is mostly for me.” She proudly said.

“Is it gonna snow?” Chika asked Kanan.

“No way.”

“It’s gonna snow. You don’t know ‘cause you were asleep when it happened before.” 

“It’s not that it doesn’t snow here...but the ocean back there was different. It was crazy because of the seven magnetic fields coming from Reverse Mountain.” Vivi explained. “Still, we can’t relax yet. The seas may not be as rough as they were when we started...but they’ll definitely be worse than normal oceans. Don’t forget the cardinal rule--never underestimate the Grand Line!” 

Mari came out of the kitchen, holding a tray full of drinks. 

“Hey, guys! Wanna try a special drink I made?” 

“Yeah!!” Chika, Yoshiko, and Kanan responded, even Karoo gave her a quack. Seeing them quickly relaxing like this infuriated Vivi. Riko came out of the kitchen with two glasses of the drink that Mari made.

“Are they supposed to be doing that?!” Vivi pointed at them. The navigator went to hand her the other one.

“Why not? They’ll pitch in if there’s a storm or something. They don’t want to die, either. Have a drink.”

“Okay, but...I still don’t like it!”

“Like it? Drink up!” Mari said, watching Karoo try one of them.

“Hey, Yoshiko, make us some fishing gear.” Chika told her, sipping from the straw.

“Yeah, fishing sounds good.” Kanan added.

“Okay, I’ll make us really elegant fishing poles.” Riko smiled from watching them.

“Don’t your cares just melt away on a ship like this?” Vivi finally thought about it for a moment.

“...Yes. It’s very relaxing.”

“Hey, look _everybody!_ A dolphin!” Mari exclaimed, seeing one appear from the water. They continued watching it go up, and up...and up…

“It’s huge!” 

“Get back!” Chika commanded them, all of her crewmates getting ready. Mari went to pull the sails, Yoshiko told Kanan where to go and what to do, and multiple footsteps were heard around the ship as their captain gave more commands.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Riko looked at where the Log Pose was pointing, and sure enough, it was the island right in front of them.

“There’s no mistake! After Cactus Island, the next island on our course is...that one!”

“There it is! The second island of the Grand Line!”


	8. On Little Garden...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> to get to drum island faster, i had to put the entire little garden arc summarized into one chapter. it doesnt have any changes, but since drum island does by a lot, i decided to do this.

_ With a newly acquired Princess Vivi on board, Aqours soon found themselves on the island of Little Garden. It’s stuck in a prehistoric time, there’s dinosaurs, huge plants, and even other animals are huge. While Yoshiko and Riko feel uncomfortable leaving the ship, Chika and Vivi decide to go explore the island. _

_ They soon met Dorry, a giant warrior from Elbaf who befriends them. A little while later, Mari and Kanan got into a fight about who could get the most meat first. They soon leave the ship in search of animals they can use to win the bet. Left alone on the ship, Riko and Yoshiko learned why the island is called Little Garden. It is called Little Garden because of those who inhabit it. They are terrified when Brogy, another giant, shows up and decapitates a tyrannosaurus rex. He decides to bring them home with him, much to their alarm, under the impression he wants to eat them. _

_ Elsewhere, Baroque Works agents Mr. 5, Miss Valentine, Mr. 3, and his partner Miss Goldenweek come together and reveal the 100,000,000 berry bounty on each of the giant's heads, and Mr. 3 suggests that they kill them, along with Aqours. Back at Dorry's campsite, Dorry explains that he and Brogy are forever destined to continue their one hundred year long war, which was started over a reason Dorry had long forgotten (later revealed that it was a quarrel about their hunting competition which resulted in their exile from Elbaf), which inspires Yoshiko to fight for her dream of being a proud warrior of the sea.  _

_ When Dorry and Brogy are just about to continue their bout, Dorry suffers internal injuries from an explosion after drinking some of the Straw Hats' beer, which was tampered with by Mr. 5 using his Devil Fruit abilities. Dorry tries to attack Chika, thinking he was responsible, but Chika quickly beats him using Gomu Gomu Rocket by targeting his stomach. Realizing that the god of Elbaf was not on his side, Dorry still decides to go and pin Chika under a giant rock when Chika tries to stop Dorry from going to fight Brogy. _

_ Meanwhile, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek capture Kanan first, and then Riko after she is separated from Yoshiko while running from a dinosaur. After Yoshiko meets with Chika and Vivi, Vivi suspects that Baroque Works is likely behind Riko's disappearance, since out of the two of them, Riko is on their hit list while Yoshiko is not, and they are also responsible for the exploding beer that injured Dorry.  _

_ Eventually, Dorry loses to Brogy due to his injuries (as well as Mr. 3 using his wax in secret to make Dorry trip). Brogy notices a deficiency in Dorry's performance but is too late in identifying the perpetrators when Mr. 3 appears and imprisons him with wax. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine then succeed in capturing Vivi despite failing to use Karoo to lure her away from Chika, which they realize they did not need to do since Chika was imprisoned by the rock, and quickly defeat her, Yoshiko and Karoo. _

_ Mr. 3 then imprisons Kanan, Riko, and Vivi in his giant candle set which will slowly turn them along with Brogy into wax sculptures. Just as Kanan is about to cut off her legs to break free, Chika, Yoshiko, and Karoo arrive to save their friends. However, when Chika damages Mr. 3's giant candelabra after her feet are trapped in the wax, it only accelerates the process, giving Chika, Yoshiko, and Karoo less time to save the others. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine then engage Yoshiko and Karoo and all the two can do is run away since Yoshiko's Gunpowder Star is useless against Mr. 5, while Mr. 3 prevents Chika's further attempts from destroying his candle set. _

_ Chika is then brought under Miss Goldenweek's hypnotic control. Despite all of Chika's attempts to free herself from the hypnosis, Miss Goldenweek continues to use her Colors Trap ability to re-hypnotize Chika. Eventually, Yoshiko, as she is dodging Mr. 5's Breath Blast Bomb, realizes the situation and uses her Flame Star to burn Chika's shirt to free her completely, forcing Mr. 3 to form his mecha-like armor, the Candle Champion, to hold off Chika. Once Yoshiko realizes that despite the density Mr. 3 makes his wax, it could still be melted away, and though their friends' bodies have been completely covered, they still have a small amount of time left. _

_ Though the Mr. 5 team takes down Yoshiko before she can try to shoot the candle set with her Flame Star, Yoshiko gives Karoo a rope with instructions to run around with it along the candle set. As she is taking the strain from Miss Valentine's weight, Yoshiko tells Chika to set the rope (which he soaked with oil) on fire, as it is the only way to melt the wax quickly enough to save their friends. Grabbing onto Mr. 3's hair, Chika uses the fiery portion of it to light the rope tricking Mr. 3 into melting the wax. Once the candle set is destroyed, Riko and Vivi defeat Miss Valentine. Before Mr. 5 can shoot Vivi, Yoshiko tricks Mr. 5 into eating her Tears of a Fallen Angel and is saved by Kanan before an angry Mr. 5 can kill her. Meanwhile, Chika and Karoo pursue the Mr. 3 team, and though Mr. 3 tries to trick Chika by creating clone statues of himself, Chika, through sheer instinct, knocks him out, while Karoo defeats Miss Goldenweek. _

_ Meanwhile, Mari enjoys tea in Mr. 3's candle house and receives a call from Crocodile, who mistakes her for Mr. 3. He is ordered to go to Alabasta (later revealed to be a ploy to make assassinating him easier for Mr. 2 after Mr. 0 thought he lied about succeeding in his mission to kill Vivi and Aqours) by way of the Eternal Pose which is being sent by the Unluckies, Mr. 13 and Miss Friday, who attack Mari and are defeated upon making the delivery.  _

_ Dorry turns out to be okay as he was only knocked out as both his sword and Brogy's axe were dulled from being constantly used over the last century. Once Mari returns, Dorry and Brogy bid farewell to Aqours by slaying Island Eater, a giant goldfish who eats ships leaving the island, sacrificing what remains of their weapons in the process. With that, the Aqours head for Alabasta using the Eternal Pose they got from the Unluckies. _

  
  


…

  
  


One night, Mari had brought Riko out onto the floor of the ship to show her something. She showed her the covered up object that she had bought back in Loguetown…

“What about it, Mari?” She asked, genuinely interested in what she had gotten. She owned Awashima, the floating hotel that goes through every blue in the world, and even the Calm Belt. That was a lot of money to be making, and surely she wouldn’t notice if she took a small piece of it…

“I remember you mentioning wanting to  _ encapture _ the sound of the ocean, so here you go!” Taking off the cover, beneath it revealed a black piano. Riko gasped in surprise. She hadn’t seen one of these in forever, especially after what happened with Arlong. “A great gift for our crew’s  _ musician,  _ and _ amazing navigator _ . What’s a musician without an in--Wait, are you crying?!” Sure enough, Riko shed a few tears. Those few became a lot.

“Thank you, Mari!!” She exclaimed, going to embrace her tightly. Initially, Mari freaked out about getting hugged by a girl, and that girl being Riko, but instead, she returned it as best as she could.

Thinking back, not a lot of people had been this kind to her before. Since she was on and off pirate crews, scamming them for money to pay off Arlong, there wasn’t much reason for her to receive any affection. However, there was that one weirdly handsome (though she wouldn’t admit that) person she had met on that huge ship...some days she feels bad for stealing from them. She wishes she had learned their name first.

Riko brought this up to Mari. Knowing her, she’d probably know at least something.

“Oh, I know exactly who you’re talking about! I think Chika might know them better!” Mari went to the kitchen, and not even a minute later, came out with her eating food in shame. Looks like she snuck out again. Riko then explained to her.

“Big ship…” Chika said to herself. “You mean You?! Wait, wait, wait, you met her?! When was this?!” She frantically asked.

“I met her a few years back. Do you know her?”

“Duh, of course I do! You was my best friend when we were kids! One day, she left with her dad on a trip on this huge boat, and never came back. Man, I miss her so much.” She explained. “I grew up with her on Uchiura in the Numazu Kingdom! Wow, that brings me back. I remember meeting Kanan once, too.”

“Really? What a coincidence…I’m glad that you guys knew who I was talking about.” Riko thanked them, Mari shook her head.

“ _ No _ , it’s not a problem! We’re glad that we could help.”

  
  


_ Meanwhile, the Going Merry... _

…

_ Sailed peacefully over the ocean. _

  
  


With the sun up, Chika and Yoshiko were partying, arms linked together. They were real big fans of the giants, and their story. Yoshiko twicefold so, due to being both herself and Yohane.

“Alright, Yoshiko! Let’s do it! Let’s go to the Land of the Giants!” Chika shouted, the two then singing a song about Elbaf they came up with on the spot. Riko blinked, watching them while leaning her back on the mast of the ship.

“They’re sure in a good mood.” She sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead. “I’m still exhausted from that adventure. Vivi, can you keep an eye on the log pose?” Riko handed it to her. Seeing her look at the pose made her smile. “Now finally...you can go home. If we don’t run into trouble between here and Alabasta, that is.”

“...Yes. I’ve got to get home, and save my kingdom.” Vivi responded. She thought back on Igaram’s words…

_ “You’re the only one, princess! Your father, the king, is powerless now!” He exclaimed, with both of his hands on her shoulders. “The people must hear the truth from your lips...or this violence will not end! You must live! Whatever sacrifices must be made, even if you must betray others, you must live! No matter what!! Princess Vivi, do you have the resolve to stay alive?” _

“I will live, and return to Alabasta!” 

“No need to worry, Vivi. You have me!” Mari walked up to them, carrying a plate full of food. “While I myself am not an actual cook, Stewshine comes from the heart. Made with the _ finest ingredients _ from around the-” She was about to go on a full explanation of each individual part of her staple dish, she paused when she noticed Yoshiko and Chika drooling at the sight of it. “...Yours is in the kitchen.”

“Yay!” They yelled, jumping and running towards the main room. On the other side of the ship, Kanan was swinging a giant weight around with both of her hands like it was one of her swords, bringing it over her head and back down. Not only did she still have the bandages from her fight with Eli, but now had some from when she had tried to cut her legs off.

“2603...2604…!” She counted each move. “If I’d been able to destroy that Candelabra, we wouldn’t have been delayed so long. I have to get strong enough...to shatter steel!”

Now in the kitchen, Chika was stuffing her face with food, disregarding how big any piece of it was. Yoshiko ate some too, but definitely not as much…

“So, have you heard of the story of the sea demon?” She asked. For once, the captain stopped eating to respond.

“Are you talking about Yohane, or that story about the sea devil?” 

“Neither, actually. They were only seen once, and they don’t even have a picture for their bounty poster. Basically, one day, at night, they beat three members of μ's with nothing but a pillow.” Yoshiko explained to her. “Some people say that they were knocked out for days…” 

“No way, you’re kidding!” Chika said, the pseudo fallen angel shaking her head. When she was younger, she had heard a bunch of stories like this on Awashima. There was always talk of rumors, over exaggerated tales, and white lies. A lot of them came from Mari, too. She had left to become a pirate before, only coming back when her ship had been burned down before they could even get to the Grand Line. 

“There’s also a theory that they’re one of the crew members on the ship. But, that’s ridiculous. I don’t think anyone on the ship, maybe in the world, could beat Eli with just a pillow, especially back then.” Yoshiko went on. “Personally, I believe that there was divine interven-”

“I was wondering when Yohane was gonna show up!” Chika interrupted. “Hey, is the ‘falling from heaven’ thing true? I’ve been wondering about it for like, forever!” Yohane darkly chuckled. I guess they truly were two different people, since her voice was deeper.

“Long ago, my mortal vessel had lived on a land 10,000 meters above the sea. Still a measly child, she fell off said island, and thanks to my Fallen Angel presence, spread wings and landed on the temporary living receptacle of the rich.” Chika barely understood what she said, taking everything at face value.

“Wait, so you mean she fell from that high up?!”

“Yes.”

“And survived that fall because of you?”

“Yes.”

“Huh. Cool!”

“Everyone! Come quickly! This is bad!!” Vivi shouted, leaving their conversation to a halt. The two ran out of the kitchen.

“What’s wrong, Vivi?” Chika asked her.

“It’s Riko! She’s burning up with a fever!” Sure enough, the navigator was breathing heavily on the ground, sweating bullets.


	9. Tin Tyrant Pirates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their way to find Riko a doctor, they come across an odd sight...

“Is Riko gonna die?! Is she, Vivi?!” Mari asked, crying dramatically. Surely she wouldn’t...right?

“It’s probably the climate. One of the dangers you encounter upon entering the Grand Line is sickness caused by the extreme weather…” She explained. “Even the most notorious pirates who sail the seas can suddenly get sick and die. It’s a common occurrence. Even a little cold can kill you if you’re not careful. Isn’t there anyone on board who knows a little medicine?”

Chika and Yoshiko both pointed at Riko, who was laying down in the bed, while Mari wiped her tears away.

“She just needs to eat some mikan! That’ll cure her. Right, Mari?” Chika said.

“Well, I’ll cook up something she can eat. That’s  _ basic care _ you’d give a sick person, but it won’t necessarily make her well.” She responded. “Up to now, I’ve taken extra care in preparation of Riko and Vivi’s meals. I’ve made sure they were well balanced and had meat and vegetables. If something was going bad, I fed it to you guys.”

“Hey!” Yoshiko exclaimed.

“It all tasted pretty good though.” Chika laughed it off.

“Anyway, as long as I’m cooking on this ship, you don’t have to worry about  _ basic nutrition _ . However, there are all sorts of  _ special foods _ that are good for different diseases. But I don’t know what she’s got.” Mari told them.

“Then feed her all of ‘em.” Chika was quick to say.

“That’s a good way to make a healthy person sick.” Vivi checked Riko’s temperature, and…

“104 degrees! Her fever’s getting worse!” She shouted in shock. Yoshiko crossed her arms.

“There has to be a doctor in Alabasta, right? How much farther is it, Vivi?”

“I’m not sure, but it’ll take us at least a week!” Chika looked at the two from Awashima.

“Does it hurt to be sick?” She questioned.

“Dunno, I’ve never been sick.” They both answered.

“Are you people even human?!” Vivi asked. “Of course it hurts! A fever of 104 is catastrophic! It could kill her!”

“What?!” They all yelled.

“Riko’s gonna die?!” Chika said frantically.

“ _ Please don’t die, Riko!! _ ” Mari sobbed even harder than last time, making what she asked sound almost incoherent. Yoshiko and Karoo were moving a lot around the room.

“Stop running around and be quiet!” 

“We gotta find a doctor and have him cure Riko!” Chika responded.

“Alright, I know, but calm down! The noise isn’t good for her!!”

“...It’s no good.” Riko finally spoke up, slowly rising in the bed.

“Oh! Riko?” Vivi turned back to look at her.

“Hey! She’s better!” Chika cheered.

“Don’t be stupid!” Yoshiko told her. Riko took off the towel that was on her forehead.

“In my desk...there’s a newspaper.”

  
  


…

  
  


Kanan was outside of the room, sitting on the railing and lifting another weight. She looked out to sea.

“Hmm...smooth sailing ahead.” Vivi looked down at the newspaper, deeply absorbed in it.

“It can’t be…” She muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Chika asked her.

“Is it about Alabasta, Vivi?” Mari added.

“This is terrible! 300,000 soldiers have defected from the royal army and joined the rebels?!” The newspaper was rustling from her hands shaking. “The royal army used to have 600,000 men and the rebel army had 400,000. This changes everything!”

“...Now the violence in Alabasta will intensify. That newspaper’s from three days ago. I’m sorry. Letting you see that wouldn’t make the ship go faster...and I didn’t want you to worry, so I hid it from you.” Riko elaborated on her reasoning. She glanced at her captain. “Do you understand, Chika?”

“I get the feeling, it’s pretty bad.”

“It is. I’m glad to see you’re actually taking this seriously.”

“You need to see a doctor, Riko.” Yoshiko tried to tell her.

“I’m fine. That thermometer must be broken. It’s impossible to have a temperature of 104.” She slowly got out of the bed. “It was probably just sun stroke. I don’t need to see a doctor. We have to stick to the plan...and head straight for Alabasta. Thanks for worrying about me.”

“Hey...is she really better?” Chika asked.

“She always has to be so strong.” Yoshiko commented.

_ “If I don’t do something...the kingdom will be engulfed in a bloody war.” _ Vivi thought, still looking at the paper. “I have to prevent that at all costs, or it will mean the end of Alabasta! Crocodile will take over! I don’t just have to get home alive, but as soon as possible! I’ve got to get home or a million of my people will kill each other in a senseless war.”

“A million people?!” Chika responded.

“Vivi, you have a heavy weight on your shoulders.” When Riko came outside, she spotted the swordsman not paying attention to where they were going.

“Hey! What are you looking at?!” She yelled at Kanan.

“What? The ship’s going straight ahead.” She answered.

“Straight ahead according to what? You have to look at the Log Pose!” 

“I don’t need to. I just follow that big cloud over there…” Kanan explained what she had been doing, pointing at said cloud.

“Don’t you know that clouds move and change shape?!” Riko clutched her head, feeling pain from the arguing. “Ugh, I can’t take this. My head hurts.”

“Just leave it to me and get some sleep!”

“I would if I could, but that would be suicide!” That was true, when it came to Kanan’s sense of direction. Riko felt dizzy, her skin still flushed. “...The air is different.”

“The air? It’s been nice and sunny all day.” Kanan told her. 

“Never mind, just call the others.”

  
  


…

  
  


“Hey, you guys! Come out here! Time to work!” Kanan shouted. The rest of them came rushing out. “We’re gonna make a turn to the south.”

“I don’t take orders from you!” Mari retaliated.

“Shut up and get to work! Hoist the sails and catch the wind to port.”

“What’s going on, Riko? The sea’s calm and the sky’s clear.” Mari asked her. She was looking off to the sea. 

“The wind. There’s a big wind coming...up ahead...I think.” Riko said between wheezes. Chika walked up the stairs and put her hand on her head. “...Huh?” She retracted her hand fast from it being burned.

“Ouch! You’re hot! We have to get you to a doctor!” Chika exclaimed, clutching her hand.

“That’s not necessary! This is my normal temperature! So stop acting stupid and pull a rope.”

“Riko...I know you want to help Vivi, but if you overexert yourself…” Mari tried to say to her.

“I said I’m fine.”

“Riko, you’d better…” Yoshiko began.

“Just hurry up and turn this ship!” She quickly became exhausted. Riko looked back again.  _ “What’s that? It doesn’t...sound like wind…” _

Vivi was still looking at the now crumpled up newspaper inside.

_ “I have to get back to Alabasta as soon as possible.”  _

  
  


…

  
  


“Everyone, I need to ask a favor of you. I know this is selfish of me, after all you’ve done already...but my country is in grave peril, and I’ve got to get back right away! There’s not a moment to spare!! So…” Vivi had begun to tell the others. “So I want you to sail this ship at maximum speed, and head straight for Alabasta.” Riko smiled at her, despite still burning up.

“Of course! We promised you we would!” She responded.

“So let’s look for an island with a doctor as soon as possible.” Vivi continued, to Riko’s surprise. “If we want to get to Alabasta...we need to get Riko well, so we can get there faster!” Chika grinned, liking this idea.

“Absolutely! This ship can’t go faster than that!” She said.

“Are you sure about this? What about those million people of yours?” Yoshiko questioned.

“I’m sure! That’s why we need to make Riko well quickly.”

“ _ Well said _ , Vivi! I like you!” Mari told her. 

“...You’ve got a big heart.” Kanan said.

“Thank you for your concern! But, Riko, don't push yourself so hard!” 

“...Sorry, Vivi...I think I’m not completely well yet…” She finally admitted. Suddenly, Chika pointed at something behind their ship.

“AH!! What the heck is that?!” She shouted. It was…

“I-It’s a cyclone!”

  
  


…

  
  


_ The direction they were previously heading in the clear skies would’ve been straight into the cyclone, but thanks to Riko being able to turn the ship around, they head south. And so, ignoring the Eternal Pose that pointed the way to Alabasta, they sailed the Going Merry in search of a doctor. The very next day… _

  
  


…

  
  


“Somebody’s standing on the water? That’s impossible, Kanan.” In the midst of the snow coming down, the swordsman had spotted something while on look out.

“Then...what’s that out there?” She asked, looking again. Chika and Yoshiko both turned in the direction she was facing, and sure enough, there was someone standing on the water. In disbelief, they both rubbed their eyes. The person was still there. They all stared at them in awkward silence.

“Boy, sure is cold out today.” The person said. The two crewmates glanced at each other.

“Yeah, sure is.” Chika said.

“Uh huh, it’s cold alright.” 

“Really?” They asked, creating even more silence. Then, a huge object burst out the water from under them, creating waves strong enough to knock their ship back. Chika held onto her hat to stop it from falling back, holding onto the railing to steady herself.

“What’s that?! A watermelon?” The ship shook violently from the waves, causing stuff to move around inside.

“Why’s the ship shaking?!” Vivi questioned. Mari used both an arm and a leg to hold onto the bed Riko was in.

“Hold the rutter steady! If anything happens to Riko, I’ll  _ throw you overboard! _ ” She shouted to the outside of the Going Merry.

“That can’t be...a ship?!” Kanan asked, looking at it from the highest point. Sure enough, the huge thing transformed into a ship, the figure head looking like a hippo with a crown on it. 

“Bwahahaha! Were you surprised by blinking, my giant submersible attack ship?!” A voice yelled.

“Darn it! A pirate ship!” Yoshiko complained. 

“Wow…” Chika said in awe. It completely towered over their own ship.

“We don’t have time for this.” Kanan also complained. Mari burst out from inside. 

“What’s going on?!” She questioned, but then stopped. “So...what happened?”

“That ship attacked us.” Chika answered. A bunch of gunmen were on their ship, having guns pointed at each of them, even Mari, who had just stepped outside.

“I thought it was something like that, from the  _ looks of it. _ ” She sighed. 

“Hey, we're in a hurry.” Chika told one of them.

“Hmm...four of you...can’t just be the four of you.” A voice said in between bites. They first bit a chunk of meat, but then ate the whole blade it was on. That was Wapol of the Tin, captain of the Tin Tyrant Pirates. “Never mind. I’ve got a question.”

“Who is that guy? He just ate that knife.” Chika asked in disgust.

“My mouth hurts just watching him!” Yoshiko exclaimed. Wapol then dropped the hilt of the knife in his mouth.

“We want to go to the Drum Kingdom. Do you have an Eternal pose or a Log Pose?”

“Nope.” 

“And we’ve  _ never heard  _ of that place either.”

“So, if you’re done, go away!” Chika told him.

“It’s not good to rush through life. If you don’t have either of those items, we’ll take your treasure and your ship instead.”

“What?”

“Just a moment. I’m still a bit hungry.” He, quite literally, took a bite out of part of their ship, and ripped it off. He loudly crunched the wood with his teeth.

“What...the heck is that guy?!” Yoshiko shouted, scared out of her life. Wapol then continued to eat the rope nearby.

“He’s eating up our ship!!” Chika yelled.

“Yum! An anchor rope.”

“Don’t move, you! Captain Wapol’s eating!” One of his underlings told her.

“Shut up!” Using her arm, she punched him from the top of his head.

“Why, that dirty…!”

“Fire!” Kanan grabbed her swords.

“That’s what we should’ve done from the start.”

“Wait, we can fight?” Yoshiko tried escaping from the mast of the ship, the gunshots missing her.

“Wait! We can talk this out!”

  
  


…

  
  


While Kanan and Mari dealt with some of them, Chika went straight for their captain, knocking some of them over in the process.

“This ship is tasty…” Wapol muttered.

“How much are you gonna eat?!” She shouted to him. “Hey, you!” He finally glanced back.

“You dare to challenge Captain Wapol? He’ll devour you with the power of the Munch Munch Fruit!” Some of the crewmates said, laughing at her attempt. Wapol opened his mouth.

“Chika!” Yoshiko shouted, to no avail. He ate her whole. Well, except for the arms still stretched out.

“Huh? What’s this?” He asked. Vivi slammed the door open, to see a bunch of Wapol’s men laid out on the ground.

“Vivi, is Riko alright?” Mari asked her.

“Yes! What’s going on?!”

“...Too...chewy…” He said. Her arms began retracting rapidly. When they collided, Chika came out of his mouth, and sent him flying off into the distance.

“Take off!”

“...Captain Wapol?” His shipmates watched as he disappeared.

  
  


…

  
  


“What if we throw some water on her? Won’t that cool her down?” Chika asked them. Both Vivi and Mari hit her, and she fell from the wall.

“Are you crazy?!” A painting fell from where she hit on the wall and landed on Chika’s face.

“This is bad. The sun’s going down, Vivi.” Mari said to her.

“I know. We have to drop anchor somewhere. Without Riko to navigate, we can’t sail at night.”


	10. A Winter Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After dealing with Wapol and his crew, Aqours arrives at a snow island, looking for a doctor to help with Riko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long chapter delay! a few days after I released 'A Modern Tale of the Watanabe Warrior,' I was in a pretty bad car crash and was hospitalized for a while. I'm back now, so expect more chapters to come out soon!

Mari sat on the lookout, covered up by a few blankets and a white coat and purple scarf she had put on what she normally wore, muttering something about the cold. She looked up at the moon.

“Looks like the moon will be full soon.”

…

  
  


Yoshiko was out on the deck holding a bunch of boards to patch up the ship, having Karoo help her. She wore a deep blue and green jacket, along with grey gloves.

“I wonder who they were.” She said. Mari glanced down at her from above.

“Huh?”

“Those guys yesterday. I never heard of this Wapol before, but that ship of his was awesome!” Yoshiko praised.

“Who cares? Forget about them. They're just a bunch of idiots...nothing to worry about.” Mari began, then leaned onto the railing, watching Yoshiko begin hacking away. “Nevermind them, the weather’s been _ unusually  _ stable lately. Stable but cold.”

“Yeah. It’s not even dependably unpredictable here. This sea…” She responded, hammering in a nail.

“It’s a sign that there’s land nearby. Mari, keep a sharp lookout.” Vivi spoke up, catching the cook’s attention.

“Vivi…”

“We must be approaching a winter island.”

“A winter island?” Yoshiko asked, before hitting her hand with the hammer and yelping in pain.

“Climatically, the islands of the Grand Line can be divided up into four types--Summer islands, spring islands, autumn islands, and winter islands. Each of these islands generally have 4 seasons.” She explained. “In other words, when you sail the Grand Line, at the very least...you will have to endure 16 seasons, beginning with summer on summer island with winter on winter island.”

“Of course there are exceptions to this, as well as unknown weather patterns.” 

“I see. If there are clusters of islands like that...it’s no wonder the seas between them are so turbulent.”

“Exactly. That’s why stable weather means there’s an island nearby!” Mari held up the binoculars, finally spotting what they were looking for.

“You’re right! I see it!” She exclaimed.  
“An island!”

  
  


…

  
  


“An island?!” Chika repeated, turning back to Riko. “Riko, isn’t this great?! An island! You’ll be cured soon!” She was shaking from excitement, enough to move the chair. Kanan leaned back on the shelf with her arms crossed, watching her move back and forth.

“...Go and have a look.” Chika dashed out the room and went straight to her favorite spot on the figurehead.

“An island!! It’s so white! It’s snow, a snow island!” She cheered.

“Just remember this, Chika! We’re not here for an adventure this time. We’re going to find a doctor for Riko, then we’re leaving immediately.” Mari told her.

“Snow is great…” She mumbled, making Mari sigh.

“It’s no use, she’s not listening.”

“Wait! Are you sure the island’s safe? If there’s snow here, couldn’t there be a snow monster?! Do we even know if there are people there?” Yoshiko frantically asked. “Oh no! My ‘Don’t-Go-On-The-Island’ disease is coming back!!” 

“Snow’s so nice and white.”

  
  


…

  
  


Aside from the normal mountains, there were a chain of drum-shaped mountains on it. They traveled into the island through a river that cut into it. Chika clasped her hands together, tearing up from the mere sight of it.

“Wow, this is amazing! Look at those mountains...and all that snow!! I’m in heaven!” Even with a jacket on, Mari and Yoshiko were shivering, the latter’s teeth chattering together.

“Chika, aren’t you cold dressed like that?” Vivi checked the temperature.

“It’s only 14 degrees out. That’s the temperature at which bears get ready to hibernate.” A cold breeze came through.

“Huh? Oh, uh…” Just then, Chika also joined in with the shaking, only having on her vest. “It’s cold!”  
“You just noticed?!”

…

  
  


“It’s a waterfall of melting snow. I think we can dock our ship here.” Kanan looked back to the rest of the crew. 

“Okay, who’s gonna go look for a doctor?” Now back outside with a white coat over a purple hoodie, Chika raised her hand to volunteer.

“I’ll go!”

“Me too!” Mari agreed.

“Fine, go.” Yoshiko said, content with staying on the ship. Suddenly, on the land surrounding the river, a bunch of people showed up, presumably the islanders. They were all armed with a different assortment of weapons.

“Stop right there, you pirates.” A voice said, catching the crew’s attention. 

“Hey, there’s people.” Chika pointed out. 

“I don’t think they’re friendly people, though.” Yoshiko added on. A bigger man stepped forward.

“Turn your vessel around, and leave immediately.” He told them.

“We came here to find a doctor!” Chika tried explaining to them.

“We have a sick person aboard!” Vivi also said.

“Don’t try your tricks on us, you dirty pirates!” One of the islanders yelled. “This is our country! We’ll let no pirate set foot here!!”

“Now raise your anchor and go, or we’ll blast your ship from the water!!” More and more of them joined in. Mari took her lollipop out of her mouth. 

“We barely said  _ hello _ , and they already don’t like us.” She sighed. 

“Get out of here!” One shot at Mari’s foot, who moved out of the way on reflex. 

“They shot at us!” Yoshiko shouted, as Kanan behind her reached for her swords. Mari glared at the person who fired.

“That was a big mistake!” Vivi got in front of the blonde and tried to stop her from going after him. He hesitated on firing again. “Why, you…!”

“Mari, stop!” A gunshot rang through the air, and Vivi fell onto the floor.

“Vivi!” Chika exclaimed, ready to fight them off. “You jerks!!” The villagers all got prepared to fire.

“Take aim!” Chika tried to go after them. Despite her injury, Vivi grabbed her waist and stopped her from continuing.

“Stop! We can’t fight them! Don’t worry about my wound! It’s just a scratch!” She pleaded. Once she finally got her to stop moving, she continued. “Alright. We won’t set foot on your island! But, can you send us a doctor? Our navigator is very sick. Please help us!!” To make her point, she let go of Chika, and went and bowed on the ground, keeping her head down.

“Vivi?!” She asked.

“Chika, you’re a failure as a captain. Impulsiveness doesn’t solve anything!” Vivi told her. “If you get us all killed, what will happen to Riko?” Chika watched the blood seep out of her jacket and onto the ship’s floor. She then looked back at the townspeople. 

“You’re right. Forgive me! I was wrong!” Chika joined her bow, her signature hat falling off of her head. “Please call a doctor to help our friend.” All of the action going around was replaced with silence. Very tense silence.

“I’ll take you...to the village. Come with me.” The main voice from earlier told them, which spread relief throughout the Straw Hat crew. Vivi looked over to Chika.

“See? He understands us.” 

“Yeah. You sure are smart.” The captain replied.

“But I should warn you, there’s only one doctor in this country…” The man said. “...and she’s a witch.”

  
  


…

  
  


The man from earlier escorted them through the snowy island and to a village. 

“This country has no name.” He told them.

“A country without a name? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Vivi said. Yoshiko was looking around, until she spotted a huge bear walking past them, and let out a scream.

“A bear!!! Everybody play dead!!” She fell onto the deep snow.

“That’s just the hiking bear. It’s not dangerous.” He explained. “Don’t forget to bow, it’s a mountaineer tradition.” When everyone else bowed, the bear did so as well, and they all went their separate ways. The fallen angel simply stayed there on the ground.

Back on the Going Merry, Kanan sat on one of the boxes on the deck, rotating her foot. Her leg had been stitched up from where she tried cutting it off at Little Garden.

“Good. It’s all better! See?” She said, emphasizing her point by clapping her feet together. Karoo was there, shivering under a blanket. “Now I can start training for real. I’m sick of taking it easy, and guarding the ship is getting boring too.” Kanan took off her winter coat, keeping her pants and her bra on. She put the coat on Karoo, the duck still shaking, now looking at her in disbelief.

“I think I’ll take a mind clearing mid winter swim.” She breathed out warm air, then jumped out into the river.

…

  
  


They finally arrived at Big Horn, and it was a very busy place.

“This is our village.” He said. The crew looked at it in awe.

“There are some strange animals walking around here.” Chika stated.

“Boy, this really is a snow country.” Yoshiko had her goggles on with the lenses flipped up.

“Riko, we’re in a village with people! We made it!” Mari happily said to the sick navigator, carrying her on her back.

“Thank you everyone. Except for those on guard duty, you can all go back to work.” The man told those surrounding him.

“Will you be alright alone, Dalton? They’re pirates.” One of them asked.

“I don’t think they mean us any harm. Trust me. I feel it in my gut.” Dalton responded.

“They’re not real soldiers?” Vivi asked him.

“They’re all civilians. Please come to my house for now.” 

“Huh?! Look, Chika! The hiking bear!” Yoshiko shouted for the second time, getting her captain’s attention. The two crewmates bowed to the ‘hiking bear.’

“Dalton, I heard there were pirates here! Are you alright?” The lady questioned.

“Yes, everything’s fine. Don’t worry.” 

“Dalton, I’m looking forward to the election in two days. Everyone says they’re voting for you.” An older man said.

“Oh no! Not me! I’m not worthy!”

  
  


…

  
  


“Put her on the bed over there. I’ll get the room warmed up.” Mari laid Riko down on the bed, Vivi then covering up as much as she could. “I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Dalton. I’m the protector of this island. Please forgive us for our hostile reception.” He put his large weapon down on the doorway, turning to Vivi. “May I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“I have a feeling...I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

“I-It must be your imagination. But...tell us about this witch.” She quickly changed the subject, afraid of her identity being known. The fire in the fireplace was crackling. Dalton checked Riko’s temperature.

“It’s 107.6 degrees?!” He exclaimed. The navigator was still breathing heavily, her skin flushed in a similar color to her hair.

“Her fever’s been rising steadily for three days.” The princess explained.

“If it goes any higher, she’ll die”

“Yes. But we don’t know the cause of her illness or how to treat it.”

“Look, we just need a doctor. Any doctor! Where’s this witch?!” Mari frantically asked.

“The witch...you see those mountains out the window?” When Mari and Vivi looked outside, all they saw was a snowman. Chika and Yoshiko high fived, the latter standing on her own.

“It’s a super snowman!”

“It’s the snow monster Shinora!” The two both shouted.

“You guys are gonna get it!” Mari yelled at them.

“Those mountains are the drum rockies. See the castle on the highest peak?” Dalton continued to explain, now that the cook destroyed both of their creations. Chika and Yoshiko drank hot chocolate. “Right now, that’s a castle without a king.”

“Yeah, I see it.”

“What about it?” Vivi inquired.

“The only doctor in this country, Dr. Kureha, whom people call ‘the witch,’ lives there.”

“Why would she want to live way up there? Anyway, call her down here! It’s an emergency!” Mari exclaimed, glancing up at the castle.

“I’d like to, but we have no way of contacting her.”

“What?! And she calls herself a doctor? What kind of woman is she?!”

“Her skills as a doctor are indisputable. But she’s...rather eccentric. She’s nearly 140 years old.” Dalton crossed his arms.

“140? She’s still kicking?!”

“And...let’s see… she likes pickled plums.”

“What do the people do here when they get sick or injured?” Vivi asked.

“She comes down the mountain whenever she feels like it. Then she looks for patients, treats them, takes whatever she wants in compensation, and goes home.”

“Sounds like a nasty old lady.” Yoshiko added.

“Hey, she’s just like a pirate!” Chika also said.

“But how does a woman that old get down the mountain?”

“It sounds strange, but I’ve heard that on moonlit nights, she rides a sleigh through the sky...and comes down the mountain. Some people even claim to have seen it.” He went on. “Others say she comes with a devil child, one that resembles our island’s most wanted criminal.”

“I knew it! The dark energy that came from this place was immense! A witch and a ‘devil child!’ Oh, how I hope our path’s cross!” Yohane started spewing more fallen angel nonsense.

“She’s our only doctor, but we don’t like to get involved with her if we can help it. It’s best to wait here until she comes down the mountain.” 

“You know, one doctor for an entire country makes no sense!” Mari exclaimed. Chika went up to her navigator and began lightly patting her face.

“Hey, Riko! Riko! Can you hear me?” She asked, trying to wake her up.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” The rest of her crew shouted at her. Riko stirred for a second, finally opening her eyes.

“Listen, the only doctor around here lives on top of a mountain. So we’re gonna climb it.” Chika stated nonchalantly.

“Don’t be ridiculous! What’re you trying to do to Riko?!” Mari questioned her.

“It’s okay, I’ll carry her on my back.” 

“That will only make her worse!” Vivi told her. They all thought the plan was extremely ridiculous. 

“How come? The sooner she sees the doctor, the better, right?” Chika doesn’t see anything wrong in her idea.

“Well, yes, but it’s impossible! Look at how tall and steep that peak is!” Vivi pointed it out.

“I can make it.”

“Even if you can, it’s too much for Riko. A fall from that mountain would kill even a healthy person!”

“If she does fall, there’s soft snow under her!” So much for being rational…

“Her temperature is 9 degrees higher than normal! Do you realize that?!” Watching them bicker, Riko began chuckling, catching all of their attention. 

_ “I have to get better right away.”  _ She thought, then slowly raising her hand from under the covers as best as she could. “I’m counting on you.”

Chika gave her a high five, grinning hugely.

“Alright, Riko! Leave everything to me!” 

“I’ve had it! With our captain,  _ and  _ with our navigator!”

“Do you realize how sick you are, Riko?!”

“Okay, give me some meat!”

“Meat?”

“Riko, are you sure about this? That climb will take many hours.” They all were worried about this plan.

“Fine. I’m going too!” Mari declared.

“Keep this in mind, if you lose your footing even once, Riko’s gonna die!!” Yoshiko told Chika.

“Huh? Even once?!”

“Wait! Don’t move! It has to be tied tight!” Vivi secured the bow around the two of them. Chika carried a sword behind her back to keep her body from falling. “That should do. I’ll be waiting here! I’d only be a burden if I came along.”

“Me too!” Yoshiko said.

“Hang on tight, Riko!” She told her.

“Uh huh…” Riko weakly agreed.

“If you’re serious about this, I won’t stop you, but at least start the climb from the other side. There are Lapis on this side. They’re vicious flesh-eating rabbits, If you encounter a pack of them, it’s certain death!” Chika turned to look at Mari.

“Rabbits? We’re in a hurry. We can handle them. Right?” She asked.

“Yeah. I’ll kick ‘em!” The two of them then ran off towards the mountain, and the snowy woods. 

“Let’s go, Mari! Before Riko dies!” She exclaimed.

“Don’t say things like that! It’s bad luck, you idiot!”


	12. Lapins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chika and Mari head through the forest to find the mountain, and meet very unfortunate circumstances.

Dalton explained to Yoshiko and Vivi that a few months ago, they were defeated by a small group of pirates, a group of 5, headed up by a captain named Blackbeard. Some on the island thought it was a blessing, because the land had been ruled by Wapol, a horrible king. The land was originally called Drum Kingdom. They were told that the pirate part was a cover, and he’s looking around for the island. Wapol’s army didn’t attempt to fight off Blackbeard, they fled from the nation, and escaped to the sea.

Now, Wapol’s evil reign is over. They’re trying to rebuild a new nation, a peaceful nation.

“It’s getting colder. The wind’s picking up.” Chika said, the two of them still running through the snow with Riko in tow. Mari noticed she still had on sandals, despite the obvious cold weather.

“Why aren’t you wearing socks? Just looking at you makes my feet hurt.” She told her. 

“It’s my police!” She claimed.

“Police? You mean policy?”

“Yeah, that. By the way, did you know that people who live in snow countries don’t sleep?” Chika asked her.

“Why not?”

“Well, if they fall asleep, they’ll die.” A rabbit flew towards them to try and strike, but Mari jumped right over it.

“That’s ridiculous! Everybody has to sleep!”

“It’s true. I heard it a long time ago from someone.” Mari tried asking if Yoshiko was the one who told her that, but Chika just said she heard it in a village tavern. The cook dodged another rabbit, which bit onto a tree. Mari also asked why Dalton had a bed in his house, trying to get her to be reasonable, but Chika assumed it was his deathbed. The tree split in half, the top part collapsing in front of them, so they both leaped over it and kept running.

“Then, did you know this? Snow country women have silky smooth skin.”

“How come?”

“Isn’t it obvious? When it’s cold, you rub your skin like this, right? That makes it soft and smooth.” She gave a demonstration while the two dodged more rabbits. “Smooth, translucent white skin...that’s snow country women for you.” 

“...I wonder what makes it white.” Chika pondered.

“The color of the snow gets absorbed into the skin, naturally.” Both of their snow related stories were both unbelievable. Chika got out of the way of another rabbit. Mari got tired of them attacking them, so she kicked it away. “How about this, have you heard about the sea demon?” 

Chika nodded, telling her what Yoshiko told her the other day. “Such a  _ rare sighting _ she is, I’ve heard that she looks similar to the most beautiful woman on the sea.”

“Most beautiful woman…?” Mari looked at her in disbelief.

“You’ve never heard of the  _ Pirate Empress _ Karin? She’s one of the seven warlords!” Chika kept a neutral face, and Mari facepalmed. “You’re unbelievable. She also apparently looks exactly like a member of μ's, so maybe the most beautiful part is a rumor...” Even Mari was susceptible to the rumors spread on Awashima. 

She had been there for most of her life, so she must’ve heard so many odd things like this. With being all over the world, and going on her own journey at one point, she had to learn about what people were talking about. Mainly through the World Economy News Paper.

They kept on walking, and the snow blew more and more the farther they got into the woods.

“Just hang on Riko. We’re gonna get you to a doctor.” 

“It’s really snowing hard up here.” Chika complained.

“Chika, try to step more lightly. You’re jostling Riko.” Mari told her. The two paused when they saw huge animals all lined up in front of them. The one with the scar on its face had one of the rabbits from before on their shoulder. “...What are they?!” 

“They’re big and white, so they must be polar bears. Yeah, that’s it!” Chika assumed.

  
  


…

  
  


_ Elsewhere, Dr. Kureha is at a bar diagnosing a child, who she believes that he was on the verge of death but she treats him, and then demands an exceptionally large fee, which angers the father and the villagers but the boy thanks her and she collects her fee. _

_ Chika and Mari are stopped on their way to the castle by a herd of Lapin, giant and ferocious rabbits. Mari explains to Chika that only she can fight them, and that Chika has to avoid engaging in battle or risk harming Riko. Mari kicks them off and the herd become angry when they see him kick a small Lapin. _

_ Meanwhile, Dalton guides Vivi and Yoshiko to Cocoa Weed, the village where Dr. Kureha was last seen.  _

…

  
  


“Damn it! I got carried away and swam for too long. Where am I?!” Kanan complained, somewhere on the island. Since she got lost trying to get back to the ship, that means she still had barely any clothes on. The bandages weren’t doing her any good either. In front of her, she noticed a cloaked figure walking towards her. “I’m saved!” She ran up to them.

“Hey, do you know where the nearest town is?” She couldn’t tell what they looked like because of their sunglasses. 

“That’s a nasty scar you’ve got there, Kanan Matsuura.” Said swordsman took a step back, not expecting to be known by anyone here.

“Wait a minute...do I know you?” They took off their hood, and then their sunglasses, revealing them to be none other than the  _ Diamond Princess _ Maki Nishikino. “Why are you h-” She put her hand over Kanan’s mouth to keep her from talking.

“We can discuss this later. Follow me.” Maki walked off, back in the direction she came from. Another chilling breeze came through, making Kanan shiver even more.

“W-Wait up!”

...

_ However, when they arrive she has already left. The bad news continues when a guard arrives in a shocked state. He tells Dalton that their former king, Wapol, has returned. _

_ On the coast, Wapol defeats the village guards easily and is determined to return to his castle as soon as possible, but when he learns that the Going Merry is nearby and that the Straw Hats are headed towards Bighorn village, he decides to take his revenge. Dalton, on his side, left Cocoa as soon as he heard the news, in order to stop the tyrant's return to his throne. _

_ Wapol threatens the inhabitants of Bighorn. he demands they accept him as their king once more. When he learns from his crewmates that the Straw Hats are nearby, he swears to get revenge. His men spot his castle intact and that Dr. Kureha is living in it. Wapol is surprised and he decides to take it back and to take his revenge. _

_ However, his plan is halted by Dalton who has run towards his village. He delivers a critical hit Wapol. However, the former King has a highly skilled personal medical team, the 20 MDs. It is revealed that Wapol got rid of every doctor in Drum, beside the 20 best ones who only work for him. Due to the medical notoriety of the town, when people could no longer get treatment due to the monopoly of medical services, the town was abandoned by the medical professionals. _

…

  
  


“...Ah. There you go, stitched back up.” Maki said, closing the wound scared by Eli. The previous member of μ's had taken her through the woods, and into a small cabin deep into the island. Kanan sat up and stretched out, tired from laying down for a bit. 

“So, Maki, what brought you here to this island? I don’t think I’ve seen a bunch of μ's around this often before.” She tried getting her to talk. Maki explained to her that she was born and raised here to be the next ruler but things changed drastically around here while she was out at sea. Most notably the death of both the king and queen. Maki came back in secret to have her child, Ruby, and hasn’t interacted with the citizens since, in fear of the reaction they might have. This was just another place she had to stay, but she really stayed on top of another mountain, in a different castle. 

Maki also told her about how she only went out to sea when she had to check up on a few old friends, but otherwise, stayed at her home with her kids. Eventually, Kanan left to look for a village, forgetting to ask for some extra clothes.

…

  
  


_ This act of selfishness and the cowardice he has shown is unforgivable to Dalton. As he is about to attack Wapol again, Chess and Kuromarimo threaten that they know him too well. They attack the citizens who had come to help Dalton. In order to protect the villagers, Dalton takes the arrows directly in his chest. _

_ Mari and Chika try to evade the avalanche created by the lapins. While they attempt to flee to a high point, they continue to be chased by the ferocious animals. In order to save Riko, Mari sacrifices herself and throws Chika and Riko to a safe place and is hit by the full front of the avalanche. _

_ The avalanche also heads towards Drum's villages. Wapol quickly escapes with the help of his Devil Fruit powers. Convinced that it was a deliberate plan of the Straw Hats to attack him, he departs for the castle with his two lieutenants. _

_ In the mountain, Chika is safe and has found Mari. Although the cook is now unconscious. As she passes by a buried lapin, she also pulls out the parent. The baby and adult lapin are shocked that a human has helped them. The snow blew harder and harder as the captain carried both of them through the thick snow. She looked up at the mountain where the castle resided. _

“I’ll get you there, I promise! Don’t die, either of you…!” Chika told them.

“Look! There they are, King Wapol!” A voice shouted from behind. She looked back to see who it was. 

_ Chika encounters Wapol and two of his followers who had decided to kill her. However, due to Riko and Mari’s conditions, she is unable to fight back. While she is barely able to evade the trio's attacks, who perfectly mastered battle in a snowy area, she is rescued by a group of lapin, as a way of thanks for saving a baby lapin parent earlier… _

Chika finally reached the base of the mountain, her teeth chattering together from the cold. Before getting there, she put her white coat on over Riko.The snow had built up on top of her straw hat. When she looked up, she noticed she couldn’t see the top. Determined to find the doctor, she tightened the bow that kept Riko on her, took off her sandals, and so she could climb up, held Mari by her coat with her teeth. The captain began her journey up the mountain.

  
  


…

  
  


Three hours later, she was still making her way up, her skin turning red from the cold. When Chika looked up and only saw the shadow of the tall mountain, she became more invigorated. That was until she tried grabbing a rock to help her get up, and her fingers started to bleed. She yelped in pain, only then realizing that doing this made her drop her cook.

“Agh! Mari!” She stretched her head down to catch her. “Th-That was close…” She said through her teeth. Chika brought her head back up and continued her way up. The higher she got, the more red her skin became. Instead of just her hand bleeding, both her hands and feet were also, now profusely. 

One of the rocks broke, and she slid down a bit of the mountain, trying to stop herself from going too far by grabbing something, anything. Eventually she stopped, and even with the trail of blood she left behind, she proceeded to go up after catching her breath. “Hang on guys, we’re almost there!” She thought, now able to see the top of the mountain. There was no giving up now. Chika’s skin was turning purple from how long she was exposed to the freezing weather.

  
  


…

  
  


She finally made it onto solid ground, dropping Mari in front of her. The castle was snowy white and tall, surrounded by trees. The captain was panting heavily from the climb. 

“We’re finally here. That’s a pretty castle…” She muttered, her vision starting to get blurry. “Doctor…” Chika closed her eyes, passing out onto the snow with Riko still on her. The part of the mountain she was on suddenly collapsed. But before they could fall all the way down, they were caught by a small person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to speed things up and not waste time, parts that are not changed will be shortened into summaries i directly got from the one piece wiki.

**Author's Note:**

> the baroque works saga has begun.


End file.
